According to Mashable, menstrual health startup Joii is launching today in the UK with an AI-powered app that measures period blood volume to help diagnose conditions like endometriosis and fibroids. The app comes after founder Justyna Strzeszynska developed it following her own painful journey to a fibroids diagnosis. One in three menstruators experience heavy bleeding according to the UK’s NHS, and endometriosis can take four to 11 years to diagnose with 60 percent of cases remaining undiagnosed. In a five-month study with 72 participants, 88 percent said Joii would improve how they communicate period volume with doctors, and 52 percent reported improved period health literacy after using the app. Users need to buy special Joii Evaluation Pads in day and night variations, then scan them with their phone through the app to measure blood loss and detect clots.
How it actually works
Here’s the thing – this isn’t just another period tracker where you manually log symptoms. You actually have to buy their proprietary pads, then hold your phone over them to scan. The app apparently detects whether you’re using day or night pads and checks for clots. It’s basically trying to quantify something that’s historically been super subjective – how do you really know if you’re bleeding “too much” versus what’s normal?
And that’s the real problem Joii’s trying to solve. When you go to the doctor and say “I think my periods are heavy,” they often dismiss it or don’t have objective data. But if you can show them actual measurements over several cycles? That could be game-changing for getting taken seriously. The founder’s quote says it perfectly: “We want every woman to have proof, not just pain.”
The bigger picture
Look, we track everything else about our health these days – steps, sleep, heart rate. So why not period blood? It makes sense when you think about it. Heavy bleeding affects one in three people who menstruate, and conditions like endometriosis and fibroids are notoriously underdiagnosed.
But here’s my question: will doctors actually trust this data? And will insurance cover the special pads if they become part of medical diagnostics? The study results are promising – 88% feeling better about doctor communication is huge – but we’re still in early days. The real test will be whether this actually leads to faster diagnoses and better treatment outcomes.
Privacy and adoption
Now, I can’t help but wonder about the privacy implications. You’re scanning images of your period blood through an app – that’s incredibly sensitive health data. The company will need to be transparent about how they’re protecting this information and whether it’s being used to train their AI models.
Basically, this feels like a step in the right direction for women’s health tech finally getting the innovation it deserves. But like any new health technology, it’ll need to prove itself both medically and ethically. If it works as promised though? This could seriously change how we approach menstrual health care.
