A growing sector of the tech industry is working to improve women's health and close the gender health gap, as women-owned companies develop devices specifically made to track women's health.
Bloomer Tech, co-founded by Alicia Chong Rodriguez, has developed the Bloomer Bra, an underwear equipped with sensors that track health information to help detect and treat heart disease in women.
“We collect data to detect arrhythmia triggers. We also collect breathing patterns, body temperature, posture and movement,” Chong-Rodriguez said. “These symptoms may be ignored or unrecognized.”
The data is sent to a mobile phone app, allowing the wearer to share information with their doctor. Bloomer Tech hopes to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its bras to be used as medical devices.
“Most of the data we've collected so far has been primarily from men,” Chong-Rodriguez said. “In fact, we needed data from women to build better tools to detect and treat heart disease patients earlier.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million women in the United States have some form of heart disease. However, a 2018 study by the American Heart Association showed that women are not receiving the same level of care as men.
This trend has led more female entrepreneurs to develop technology specifically for women.
Like Maayan Cohen, CEO of Hello Heart, who has designed monitors that track everything from blood pressure and cholesterol to weight and activity. Data is sent to the app in real time and is available through some employer health plans.
“We have AI-based digital coaching that helps you improve your health in real time. We also have risk alerts that help you spot risks in a timely manner,” Cohen said.
For them, the mission is personal.
“My grandma died of a heart attack when I was only 13 years old,” Chon Rodriguez said. “We need better tools, and now we can do something about it.”
