At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, health startup identifyHer is shaking up the reproductive health tech narrative with Peri, a wearable device specifically designed to help people track and manage perimenopause symptoms.

Perimenopause, the transitional period before menopause, is often characterized by hormonal changes, mood swings, irregular periods, hot flashes, and night sweats. Despite its prevalence, perimenopause remains a poorly understood stage of reproductive health, with symptoms varying widely from person to person and lasting anywhere from a few months to a decade.

Peri aims to demystify this stage by providing "objective data on perimenopausal symptoms, lifestyle, and sleep, as well as actionable insights and encouragement to better understand the changes their bodies are undergoing." The device, expected to launch in June 2025, takes the form of a pill-shaped tracker that adheres to the torso, rather than the wrist or finger like most other health trackers.

According to Peri cofounder Heidi Davis, the torso was chosen as the optimal location for tracking hot flashes and night sweats due to its accuracy. Davis notes that the team intentionally avoided limb-based tracking, as it failed to identify the digital fingerprints for typical perimenopause symptoms during early development stages.

The device's algorithms, developed over three years of research and development, collect sensor data from women experiencing perimenopause to provide continuous data on hot flashes, night sweats, and anxiety. Interestingly, Davis reveals that body temperature is not a reliable indicator of hot flashes, and the team had to account for factors like exercise and warm weather that could affect heart rate, sweating, or body temperature.

While Peri's technology is promising, its efficacy remains to be seen when it launches later this year. However, its mission to bring further clarity to women's reproductive health – a historically understudied area – is a welcome development in the wearable tech industry.

In recent years, other wearable makers and researchers have made strides in understanding reproductive health, such as Oura's study on pregnancy prediction and Apple's long-term Women's Health Study using the Apple Watch. Peri's focus on perimenopause marks a significant step forward in addressing this critical stage of reproductive health.

As the wearable tech industry continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Peri fares in the market and whether its innovative approach will pave the way for further research and development in this area.