Smart menstrual cups? The latest advances in wearable health tech

The convergence of biomedical engineering and personalized health technology is changing how women can manage menstruation. Canadian researchers have developed a new menstrual health product designed to complement and enhance an existing menstrual cup. However, it may be safer, easier to use, and more environmentally sustainable than current options.This new product is part of a broader initiative at McMaster University to develop wearable technologies that proactively monitor women’s health to more quickly detect infections, monitor reproductive health, and improve diagnostics. The new product, described in an article in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, is a flushable tablet made from highly absorbent seaweed-based material. It’s designed to hold menstrual blood and minimize spills during removal. Spillage has been a significant barrier to wider adoption of menstrual cups.This tablet complements the existing Bfree Cup, which is made from lubricant-infused silicone that naturally repels viruses and bacteria. The tablet eliminates the need for boiling between uses. “Our device is designed to work in combination with a menstrual cup, not as a replacement,” said co-lead researcher Zeinab Hosseinidoust, an associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. “We developed a biodegradable, plant-based absorbent tablet that sits inside the cup and absorbs the collected menstrual fluid, effectively making the removal process clean and mess-free. By addressing this long-standing concern, our system makes reusable menstrual products far more convenient and appealing to a broader population.”The absorbent tablet is made entirely from safe, biocompatible and naturally derived materials, which are readily available and affordable. “The fabrication process is straightforward and scalable for industrial production. Next steps involve user trials, safety validation, and regulatory approval, which are essential before market launch,” Hosseinidoust told the Medical Post. Beyond convenience and safety, the technology has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of disposable menstrual products and improve access to menstrual care in lower-income communities. Each cup is designed to last for several years. It may provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution for users who may not have reliable access to tampons or pads. Menstrual cups have been available for a long time. However, their uptake has been limited due to usability challenges. The new cups address those concerns while opening the door to future health-monitoring capabilities. The research team envisions future versions of the menstrual products equipped with sensors to detect early signs of infections and blood-borne illnesses. For example, smart menstrual cups could monitor hormonal or biochemical markers in menstrual fluid. It is hoped that connected devices can be paired with mobile apps to help users track cycles, fertility or detect early signs of more serious conditions. “These technologies have the potential to make women’s health more transparent, proactive and tailored, moving from reactive care to continuous, data-driven wellness management,” said Hosseinidoust.Dr. H. Irene Su, M, an associate professor and director of the fertility preservation program at UC San Diego in California, said devices looking for conditions from diabetes to gynecological cancers in a minimally invasive way can allow women to assess their health in the privacy of their own homes and seek help as needed. “Wearables have the advantage of real-world measurements outside of clinic and hospital settings. If they can be low-cost and scalable, deploying devices to broad populations will enable pick up of important conditions as well as help individuals understand their own health,” she told the Medical Post.A wearable optical device for measuring blood flowResearchers from the California Institute of Technology along with other collaborators have developed a system that uses optical spectroscopy to measure blood flow non-invasively. The device is housed in a headband running across the forehead and contains a light source and seven detectors arranged in increasing distance from the artery. With this wearable device's closer detectors pick up shallower optical data, like signals from the scalp, while ones with a greater distance receive a deeper and broader set of signals. Identifying which signals are closer to the skin’s surface, the device can delineate which parts of the deeper signals correspond to blood flow in the brain. “Healthcare mediates or heals a disease or medical condition after the symptoms appear and the disease has developed. In opposition, wearable devices can enable continuous monitoring of physiological data, especially through optical technologies,” said researcher Simon Mahler, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Cal.Smartwatches that track heart rate and other cardiac metrics help identify cardiovascular risks early. As more sensors for other biomarkers advance, they may allow for enhanced proactive health monitoring. “I see wearable devices as more of a complement to the current standards. Some current standards can sometimes be of better resolution, precision or sensitivity than wearable sensors. but they are most of the time less accessible and more expensive. I see wearables more of a compliment that can alert of a potential risk and the current standard will confirm or not the suspicions,” Mahler told the Medical Post. How accurate are wearables?Diana Zuckerman, president of National Center for Health Research in Washington, D.C., said wearables can help individuals become aware of medical problems earlier, or notify their doctors earlier. “Ideally, that can encourage people to change their behaviour to improve their health, or to get medical attention. But wearables are often not as beneficial as they could be because the regulatory agencies are not ensuring that they are accurate.” said Zuckerman.Wearables have the potential to pick up health problems earlier because not everyone goes to a physician regularly or describes their health issues to their physicians accurately. However, there is concern about how accurate they are and whether they may miss some problems and overdiagnose others. “If they miss problems, consumers may believe that their health is fine when it isn't,” Zuckerman told the Medical Post.Mount Sinai researchers in New York this past June published the first study on using wearable devices to assess how inflammation and symptoms in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affect sleep characteristics and sleep patterns over time. The study, which was published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, found significant changes in sleep metrics could be detected. The team found there was reduced REM sleep and increased light sleep that occurred when inflammation was present in the body. “In the U.S. and Canada, almost all devices are considered Class I or Class 2, and they are not carefully reviewed by the agencies to make sure they are accurate, safe and/or effective. If the agencies reviewed them more thoroughly, we could have more confidence that they were beneficial to patients,” said Zuckerman.References:Self-Cleaning Menstrual Cups with Plant-Based Biodegradable Superabsorbent Fibrous Tablets for Hygienic and Sustainable Period Care, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2025). Assessing human scalp and brain blood flow sensitivities via superficial temporal artery occlusion using speckle contrast optical spectroscopy.Wearable Devices Identify Altered Sleep Characteristics and Sleep Trajectories in Active Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Smart menstrual cups? The latest advances in wearable health tech

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