Lutech
Pioneering a New Breed of FemTech

Healthcare technology tailored for women is a booming market, built on the very notion of improving women’s lives and reducing gender-based healthcare inequities. Female Technology or “FemTech,” as its popularly known, addresses the need for gender-specific treatment and care with dedicated software, diagnostics, products, and services that are built for women.

“As women’s issues are not always understood by financiers and technology companies, women’s health is often under-represented in the technology space,” explains Leanna Vachula, CEO and President, Lutech. The proliferation of women-led and operated start-ups in this FemTech space thus brings valuable insight into the needs of women across all ages, races/ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This reaffirms why, for many leaders, FemTech is more than a market sector—it is a movement.

For Leanna and her team at Lutech, this movement entails providing a sustainable solution that will improve and broaden access to cervical cancer screening for women world-wide and assist in the global strategy to eliminate it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cervical cancer is the fourth common type of cancer among women, taking the lives of over 300,000 women in 2018. Though the average cure rate for cervical cancer is 90 percent, limited access to screening and care accounts for high mortality rates. “We understand what women go through physically, mentally and emotionally during medical exams and their vulnerability when confronted with the possible diagnosis of cervical cancer. We’ve made enormous strides in developing technologies that minimize these vulnerabilities,” explains Leanna.

As an accomplished developer of video colposcopes, Lutech addresses the pressing concern in women’s health care by developing state-of-the-art digital video colposcopes that dramatically improve the way cervical exams are done. “Since our inception in 2011, it has been our mission to create devices that deliver impeccable image quality, while minimizing the discomfort experienced by women during diagnosis, and patients undergoing a cervical exam to confirm physical abuse,” states Jennifer Fink, Vice President of Sales at Lutech.

The advanced design of Lutech’sLT-300 digital video colposcopes reduces the length and difficulty of conducting examinations, produces much higher-quality images, and allows for image capture capability and integration with telemedicine solutions. Lutech’s high-definition colposcopes have the added benefits of mobility and digital accessibility, which is not only convenient, but also facilitates and broadens access to screenings in low-resource settings. It comes in a custom-designed mobile version that is outfitted with a battery pack and carrying case, allowing for use even in the remote corners of the world. This is in stark contrast to the conventional colposcopes that resembled bulky microscopes on a tripod, making the procedure unpleasant for both patients and examiners alike.

Growing up in a family of educators and entrepreneurs, conviction and hard work had always been Leanna’s leading principles. “My parents immigrated to the U.S. in pursuit of the American dream. They used to work on the company while doing full-time jobs.

As women’s issues are not always understood by financiers and technology companies, women’s health is often under-represented in the technology space. We understand what they go through physically, mentally, and emotionally during medical exams and their vulnerability when confronted with the possible diagnosis of cervical cancer. We’ve made enormous strides in developing technologies that minimize these vulnerabilities

Witnessing their drive kindled the desire in me to create an impact,” she says.

Lutech’s digital video colposcopes are the fruits of that desire. When Leanna took over her father’s company, she redesigned the products to merge technology with a modern, ergonomic twist. Having a master’s degree in design, Leanna wanted to ensure that all Lutech’s products were both technologically advanced and intuitive to use.

Today, the sophisticated digital video colposcopes designed and manufactured by Lutech are being used by clinicians and forensic professionals in a variety of settings. From medical offices and clinics to universities, telemedicine systems, and forensic programs, Lutech’s advanced colposcopes are essential tools in detecting cervical cancer and documenting sexual abuse.

Lutech collaborates with service and distribution partners across the globe in programs that provide women with more access to care. In one instance, the company’s collaboration with the non-profit organization HerhealthEQ brought cervical cancer screening to Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Jamaica, serving a population of over 150,000 patients.

In another instance, the FemTech provider, in partnership with Spirit of America, delivered colposcopes to establish a cervical cancer screening program at the Rezina Health Center in Moldova. As cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Moldovan women, Lutech colposcopes’ precise imaging, which provides the highest quality vulvar and cervical exams, now helps more than 200,000 women with access to cervical cancer screening.

Similarly significant is Lutech’s relationship with renowned physician Dr. Kofi Effah, whose invaluable input has allowed them to develop a sustainable mobile device that community health nurses and midwives can use to bring screening to remote areas. Dr.Effah, who heads the Cervical Cancer Prevention and training center of the Catholic Hospital in Battor, Ghana, has worked tirelessly for years to educate and train examiners and build a cervical cancer screening system across Ghana. In Dr. Effah’s words, “medical doctors, trained nurses and midwives can now perform colposcopy at the highest level in Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound and in other peripheral health facilities by deploying a portable colposcope. This is more cost effective than purchasing a stationary colposcope for every health facility.”

With the curtain closing in 2021, Lutech is broadening its participation in the WHO’s global initiative to eradicate cervical cancer by working with non-profit organizations, embassy consuls, and service partners in countries that need cervical cancer screening programs. The company also plans to continue innovating women’s healthcare procedures by developing new products in the gynecology space. “We’d like to contribute to more areas of women’s health through innovation like we have with colposcopy,” says Jennifer.