Clinical Need

Around 227,000.00 women
are diagnosed with cervical
incompetence each year in the US

Cervical Incompetence

In 2018, Preterm Birth (PTB) affected 1 of every 10 infants born in the United States [1]. One of the many factors that contributes to preterm birth is cervical incompetence (CI). In healthy pregnancies, the cervix is normally closed and firm. As the pregnancy progresses, the cervix gradually softens, decreases in length and dilates [2]. However, an incompetent cervix begins to open too soon resulting in women not being able to hold the baby’s weight past the second trimester. We at Cervos have designed a non-invasive device that will enclose and support the women’s cervix and most importantly, it will save babies' lives.

The figure above shows the comparison between a healthy cervix and an incompetent cervix. The incompetent cervix is shorter and thinner, therefore the babies increasing weight can cause it to open prematurely. This oftern results in premature birth or miscarriage.

Limitations of current treatments

The treatments available to women with CI are often invasive and not enough to prevent preterm birth. These treatments are expensive, and often require women to drastically modify their daily routines to restrict their movement. The cost associated with CI is not only attributed to its expensive treatment but also to the cost for the care of the premature babies born to mothers with this condition.
According to the March of Dimes, a premature baby spends an average of 25.4 days in a specialty care nursery at an average cost of $144,692. The cost associated with premature birth adds $26.2 billion to U.S healthcare costs each year.

To learn more about the current treatments for CI click here.

The table to the left quickly highlights the pros and cons of the current treatments used in patients with CI. While the cerclage and progesterone are the most commonly used treatments for CI these are not 100% reliable, and can be very expensive. Cervical stitching is expensive and will not work on women expecting twins or a higher order pregnancy, women with active vaginal bleeding, preterm premature rupture of membranes, among other conditions. We at cervos propose a device that can be used by all women with CI even those with the conditions mentioned before. We believe no woman should live in constant fear of losing her baby.

For more information regarding the current treatments for CI click here.

Testimonials

The following are quotes that were collected from interviews and surveys we conducted on physicians and women suffering from CI.

These are the words of women who suffer from CI. These women live their lives in constant fear of having a miscarriage because the treatments available to them are not reliable or even viable for some of them. The emotional toll of losing their babies sometimes even leads them to lose hope and stop trying to get pregnant.

Customer Surveys

At cervos we care deeply about women's health and we want to provide them with a safe alternative treatment that will ensure they reach a full-term pregnancy. We have conducted extensive research to build a device that accomodates for the user's needs. While conducting this research, we found that about 67% of the surveyed women are not satisfied with the current treatments available for them. There is a strong need for more efficient treatments and we believe our device can help in solving this problem. Please join us in achieving our end goal.

If you are interested in learning more about our proposed solution and our company please click here.
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References

[1] “NVSS - Birth Data,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 03-Oct-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/births.htm.
[2] M. Chandiramani and A. H. Shennan, “Cervical insufficiency: prediction, diagnosis and prevention,” Obstetrics and Gynecology, 24-Jan-2011. [Online]. Available: https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1576/toag.10.2.099.27398