The EU-funded EndoSolve project is revolutionizing the early diagnosis and understanding of pelvic health disorders through a groundbreaking digital biomarker platform. Led by OnaWave Medical founder Siobhan Kelleher, this initiative addresses critical gaps in women’s healthcare where conditions like endometriosis traditionally take up to ten years to diagnose.
By combining wearable sensors, smartphone applications, and machine learning, EndoSolve aims to transform pelvic healthcare from symptom-based assessment to precision medicine, offering new hope to millions suffering from undiagnosed pelvic pain and hormonal disorders.
Technology Innovation and Scientific Approach
EndoSolve’s platform represents a paradigm shift in pelvic health assessment. The technology utilizes non-invasive wearable devices that record bioelectrical signals from home environments, enabling continuous monitoring of hormonal rhythms throughout reproductive lifecycles.
This approach has demonstrated potential across multiple conditions including premature ovarian insufficiency, irregular bleeding, miscarriage, and endometriosis. The project’s innovative methodology marks a significant departure from traditional diagnostic pathways that often rely on invasive procedures and lengthy clinical evaluations.
Development Journey and Key Challenges
The project’s path to innovation has been characterized by perseverance through significant obstacles. Early attempts to validate technology in animal models faced institutional barriers, leading the team to establish their own laboratory—becoming their institution’s first to use female rats in endometriosis research.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced adaptation when university closures halted human trials, prompting a pivot to direct-to-home device distribution. “When traditional pathways closed, we asked patients to become partners,” Kelleher explained. This adaptive approach ultimately generated the crucial proof-of-concept data that secured European Innovation Council transition funding.
Collaborative Ecosystem and Patient-Centered Design
EndoSolve’s development exemplifies collaborative innovation, bringing together researchers, clinicians, engineers, and patient advocates. Chief Operating Officer John Hegarty brought decades of healthcare leadership experience, while CTO Hari Om Aggrawal joined despite attractive academic opportunities.
Patient advisor Kathleen M. King ensured the technology remained grounded in real-world experiences. “This isn’t just about technology—it’s about building solutions that reflect the lives of those we seek to serve,” Kelleher emphasized. The project’s volunteer network across Ireland provided both data and validation through home-based testing.
Clinical Impact and Future Vision
The platform’s potential impact is substantial: reducing endometriosis diagnosis time from years to days while providing objective biomarkers for conditions historically dismissed as psychological. Long-term ambitions include creating an integrated digital pelvic health ecosystem that combines reproductive, hormonal, and chronic pain management.
We want to make hormonal health a cornerstone of precision medicine,” Kelleher stated. The vision extends beyond disease diagnosis to encompass lifelong wellbeing through continuous monitoring and personalized interventions.
Broader Implications and Sector Transformation
EndoSolve represents a growing movement to address historical gender biases in medical research and development. The project’s insistence on studying female-specific conditions in appropriate models challenges research conventions that have predominantly used male subjects.
By demonstrating that pelvic health is “not a women’s issue but a human issue,” the initiative advocates for more inclusive research paradigms. The success of this patient-centered, adaptive approach offers a template for developing solutions for other underserved health conditions where traditional research models have failed to deliver adequate diagnostics and treatments.
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