EndoAxis Clinical Team
In the evolving landscape of women’s health, FemTech—short for “female technology”—has become a powerful ally for those seeking to better understand their menstrual cycles, fertility windows, and hormonal shifts. With platforms like Mira, Inito, Flo Health, Natural Cycles, and Oura Ring, millions of women now have access to real-time hormone tracking in the palm of their hand.
Understanding FemTech vs. Clinical Testing
But as healthcare professionals, it’s important to understand—and help patients understand—the difference between what these tools can show us and what clinical lab testing is designed to diagnose. The distinction lies in two essential medical testing principles: sensitivity and specificity.
What FemTech Can Do Well: High Sensitivity
Many FemTech devices are highly sensitive. In the medical world, sensitivity refers to a test’s ability to correctly detect when something is present—in this case, a hormone shift, temperature change, or biological pattern.
For Example
- Mira and Inito measure luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen, progesterone, and sometimes FSH, allowing users to track ovulation windows, as well as perimenopausal transition.
- Flo Health and Natural Cycles use temperature and cycle data to predict fertile days and cycle regularity.
- Oura Ring monitors temperature trends, sleep, and heart rate variability, which can correlate with phases of the menstrual cycle.
These tools can provide excellent pattern recognition. They help users detect if ovulation occurs earlier or later than expected, or if their temperature trends differ from prior cycles. For women managing conditions like PCOS or navigating perimenopause, this level of cycle awareness can be incredibly empowering.
Where FemTech Falls Short: Low Specificity
While sensitivity detects, specificity defines. Specificity refers to a test’s ability to correctly identify when something is not present—ruling out false positives and narrowing in on true diagnoses.
This is where FemTech has limitations. These devices are not diagnostic tools.
If a user sees something “off”—for example, no temperature shift, erratic LH surges, or unexpected changes in cycle length—this does not automatically indicate a clinical issue like anovulation, estrogen dominance, or thyroid dysfunction.
Why?
Because these apps and devices lack specificity—they cannot distinguish between normal variation and a medically significant pattern. They can alert users to a change, but they cannot explain why the change occurred.
When FemTech Data Should Prompt Medical Testing
If a patient brings in concerning data from a hormone tracker—say, repeated cycles without ovulation confirmation, or highly variable hormone surges—it’s not a cue to diagnose based on app data alone. It’s a cue to go deeper with:
- Serum hormone testing (estradiol, progesterone, LH, FSH, testosterone, DHEA, etc.)
- Urinary hormone metabolite panels (which can show how hormones are synthesized, metabolized, and excreted)
- Thyroid panels, glucose/insulin markers, adrenal testing—when indicated
These lab tests are both sensitive and specific. They offer clinical precision and are essential for uncovering true hormonal imbalances, metabolic contributors, or underlying conditions like PCOS, hypothyroidism, ovarian insufficiency, or HPA axis dysregulation.
The Clinical Role of FemTech
Used appropriately, FemTech is an incredible adjunct to care. It encourages women to tune into their cycle health, establish baseline awareness, and take proactive interest in their reproductive wellbeing. In some cases, it may even help identify when it’s time to seek professional care.
However, it’s crucial that patients—and providers—understand the boundary:
FemTech tracks trends. Lab testing provides answers.
At-home devices and apps can’t diagnose, quantify hormonal excess or deficiency, or determine the root cause of dysregulation. But they can help signal when something needs further exploration.
Bridging the Gap: Where EndoAxis Comes In
As we acknowledge the value of FemTech in bringing hormonal awareness into daily life, it’s equally important to offer patients and providers tools that can translate that awareness into actionable insight. This is where EndoAxis plays a critical role.
EndoAxis is a tech-driven solution designed to interpret hormone metabolite data from comprehensive urinary hormone testing. Unlike surface-level tracking, EndoAxis dives into the underlying metabolic patterns of hormone synthesis, detoxification, and clearance. It maps out how the body is producing, converting, and eliminating hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, and their intermediates.
By layering data analysis with clinical context, EndoAxis helps providers:
- Identify hormone pathway imbalances that may not appear in standard serum labs
- Detect phase-specific dysfunction (e.g., luteal phase insufficiency or estrogen clearance issues)
- Understand enzyme activity and metabolite preference, which can influence symptoms and long-term risks
- Integrate insights across systems—such as adrenal, thyroid, and detoxification pathways—that affect hormonal health
This level of analysis is not possible through app-based monitoring alone. And while FemTech may prompt a woman to wonder why she’s not ovulating or feeling imbalanced, EndoAxis can help explain the “why” by interpreting the data beneath the surface.
Empower with tech. Diagnose with labs. Guide with insight.
