This January, we’re talking about an unsung femtech hero – Julien Finci, CTO and co-founder of Aspivix. For years, procedures like IUD placement have caused women pain, bleeding and anxiety. Julien and the Aspivix team set out to find a solution. This is what Femtech is all about!
In November, I asked subscribers of Pour femme to nominate an unsung hero – the experts behind the scenes who diligently make things happen.
I received this response from Ikram Guerd of Aspivix (who is impressive in her own right!).
I’d like to nominate someone incredible. As the inventor of carevix®, the world’s first suction-based cervical stabilizer for gynaecological procedures, Julien Finci has been a key part of leading a revolution in women’s health, proving that innovation can be both powerful and profoundly gentle.
He truly deserves recognition as one of the unsung heroes redefining the future of compassionate gynaecological care.
Julien Finci is a visionary engineer from EPFL, the renowned Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and the inventive mind behind carevix®. As CTO at Aspivix, Julien transformed a simple yet bold idea (conceived with his brother David, a gynaecologist and Chief Medical Officer at Aspivix) into a medical innovation that is reshaping gynaecological care worldwide.
Driven by empathy and scientific rigor, he set out to replace the painful tenaculum, a century-old tool used to extract bullets from soldiers and still now used every day on women in transcervical procedures.
120 million women every year are afflicted by the cervical tenaculum in gynaecological procedures.
90% of women report mild to severe pain during procedures using the cervical tenaculum.
18% of women avoid an IUD as a birth control method for fear of pain.
[Source: Aspivix]
Through years of research and collaboration with clinicians, Julien designed carevix® to gently stabilize the cervix using suction instead of sharp force, reducing pain, bleeding, and anxiety for women during procedures like IUD placement.
Beyond his technical brilliance, Julien is deeply respected for his humility, integrity, and focus on improving patients’ care in gynaecology. His work exemplifies how engineering can serve women’s health, combining precision, compassion and purpose.
The sharp hooks of the tenaculum next to a vacuum based-suction head.
Next week, we’re talking to Julien himself, learning about his journey into the world of women’s health, so look out for this newsletter on Wednesday.
