Hadas Ziso
Founder & CEO of EndoCure | FemTech | former Founder & CTO of Tamar Robotics | former acting CEO of LVT
Israel
I will refer to the awareness for endometriosis, “the transparent disease”, a chronic condition affecting 10% of women in their reproductive years (equivalent to approximately 200 million globally). The absence of precise diagnostic tools prolongs the diagnosis period, spanning 7-11 years. Its impact manifests through pronounced pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and infertility, leading to a considerable reduction in overall quality of life. A large portion of the problem is the lack of awareness, both of patients, gynecologists (over 50%) and general practitioners (~30%). Yet, some encouraging efforts are done to enhance the awareness: a documentary movie was launched last year – Below the belt, foundations are rising, and funding begins to be allocated (e.g. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recent challenge).
Aside from awareness, disease management is challenging. The existing imaging modalities fall short of detecting a significant proportion of endometriosis lesions. Furthermore, prevailing disease management approaches lack insight into the location, size, and developmental stage of these lesions. The first line of treatment for endometriosis is primarily based on suppressing the body’s estrogen and/or progesterone hormones level thus eliminating the period, and on pain relief drugs. There are some types of pills available, with different level of effects. Not knowing the disease stage prior to taking the pills, leads to a trial-and-error process to find the effective treatment. The second line is surgery – today surgeons do their best with the existing methods for surgery pre-plan, however, the imaging data is minimal, it is almost blind, and therefore the surgery is long and complicated. For infertile patients who wishes to conceive, surgery may be the only option. The disease stage is a factor determining the fertility treatment of the patient, e.g. IUI or IVF, and as a consequence a woman who did not undergo surgery will have a trial-and-error fertility treatment.
These are exactly the challenges EndoCure would like to resolve. Addressing this critical gap, our proposed solution involves an innovative system designed for comprehensive detection, mapping, and staging of endometriosis lesions. Leveraging robotic artificial intelligence (AI)-powered ultrasound imaging in conjunction with contrast agents, our system offers a sophisticated approach. Employing AI algorithms, the software efficiently identifies and characterizes the highlighted lesions, representing a transformative leap forward in not only the diagnosis and management of endometriosis but also in surgical planning. Our solution stands alone as the premier solution offering a comprehensive lesion map to facilitate personalized treatment.
