Medtech startup Lidavex is using the same light-sensing technology found in iPhones, self-driving cars and food delivery robots to map a pregnant woman’s cervix—which the company says may make childbirth safer for women.
The year-old Laguna Beach-based company says it’s the first to maximize the use of LiDAR, Light Detection and Ranging technology, to improve labor monitoring. The company is developing a patent-pending maternal health device called CerviLite, which applies LiDAR sensors to scan the cervical surface during childbirth “for accurate, minimally invasive cervical assessment.”
CEO Kamola Mirjalilova told the Business Journal that its device gives patients “better access to what’s going on with their labor and what’s going on with their body during childbirth.”
Most recently, Lidavex received a $10,000 scholarship at Realize Demo Day, an Irvine-based University Lab Partners event, where innovative startups share their latest technologies. The company is currently raising $1.5 million in its seed round.
The money will go toward clinical trials, FDA submission and product development. The company anticipates that the device will be approved by mid-2027.
Precise 3D Mapping
LiDAR uses rapid pulses of laser light to measure distances by timing their reflections, enabling precise 3D mapping and distance calculations. In iPhone Pro devices, the technology enhances images shot in low light and improves augmented reality experiences. Waymo’s autonomous vehicles use the tech to navigate city streets.
“We’re using the same concept to understand how the cervix is opening based on the map that we create and based on different colors that the cervix is going to show, we understand where the baby’s head is and where the cervix is,” Mirjalilova told the Business Journal.
From Pain to Purpose
Before coming to the U.S., Mirjalilova was an OB-GYN nurse in Central Asia.
She then came to the U.S. from Uzbekistan on a student visa, attending Concordia University in Irvine, where she received her bachelor’s in biology/biological sciences.
Her initial goal was to introduce advanced biotech and ocean studies in Uzbekistan.
“I wanted to bring that to our country, because we have a disaster called Aral Sea disaster. One of our seas is drying out completely, and I thought that my studies here would help to at least check the biodiversity in that sea and contribute to that project,” Mirjalilova said.
But a traumatic experience while she was in labor caused her to pivot.
She realized labor monitoring did not have advanced tools to measure the dilation of a woman’s cervix accurately.
So, last year, she and Dr. Simon Lin Linwood co-founded Lidavex to create a minimally invasive device that can give objective measurements during labor as opposed to the standard alternative—medical staff using their fingers to measure labor progress.
“But then fingers are different,” Mirjalilova noted when discussing these subjective measurements made by touch with people who have different-sized hands. “My fingers could be different than the doctor’s fingers or my friend’s fingers.”
She noted one case where two different nurses measured a woman’s dilation at six and later five centimeters. The measurements fluctuated significantly over a few hours, providing an unreliable indicator of the woman’s labor progress.
Mirjalilova said it’s “crazy that we all (make) these decisions” about what drugs to give patients or even decide on a C-section surgery, all “based on this subjective exam.”
Next Phase
To date, CerviLite has been tested on animals and will soon be tested on humans.
Beyond real-time labor monitoring, the company plans to collect data from the medical device to support research on cervical cancer, fertility, menopause and cervical oncology.
“It’s not only about building a medical device,” Mirjalilova said. “We are building childbirth ecosystems.”
