Natavue | Design Projects

Summary

The Problem

Labor, measured by hand.

Manual cervical exams remain the standard for tracking labor progression.

Cervical dilation and effacement are still assessed much as they were a century ago: manually, subjectively, and intermittently. A clinician performs a physical exam, interprets findings based on experience, and records a discrete value in the chart. These exams are inherently uncomfortable for patients, carry a risk of infection with repeated assessments, and exhibit meaningful variability between providers.

Between assessments, there is little to no visibility into how labor is progressing. Exams are typically spaced one to four hours apart, creating extended gaps where changes go unobserved. During these intervals, clinicians must rely on indirect signs or wait for the next exam to reassess progression. Opportunities for timely intervention can be delayed, contributing to avoidable complications.

Technical Approach/Methodology

Our Approach

A familiar catheter, quietly augmented.

Natavue builds on a device already used in standard care: the urinary catheter. By preserving the existing retention balloon and drainage lumen, it introduces no additional insertion steps or workflow disruption. Instead, it replaces a device the patient would already receive, minimizing added burden on both patients and clinicians.

Integrated into the catheter is a flexible, miniature transducer positioned immediately distal to the balloon. Once the catheter is placed in the bladder, this array rests adjacent to the anterior cervix, enabling direct, localized imaging. A thin signal wire runs through the catheter lumen to a compact bedside unit, where data can be continuously captured and displayed.

By embedding sensing into an existing clinical tool, Natavue is designed to shift cervical assessment from intermittent and subjective exams to continuous, real-time monitoring without requiring new procedures or significant changes to clinical practice.

Outcomes

The Difference

A data-density problem.

Intermittent exams sample labor a handful of times. Continuous monitoring samples it constantly. The gap between those two pictures is where decisions get delayed.