Convenient Gynecological Testing

In a 2000 study, researchers in South Africa used tampons to detect sexually transmitted infections in women, finding 247 cases of the parasite trichomonas, which causes the infection trichomoniasis. Having long struggled with gynecological health conditions, Valentina Milanova realized this convenient, at-home testing method could substitute for hours spent waiting at clinics. In 2020, she founded Daye, which has now supported more than 5,000 patients with Diagnostic Tampons that test for bacteria, fungi, STIs, and vaginal microbiome makeup; the testing is followed by a video consultation with a nurse or ob-gyn on Daye’s staff. Manufactured at Daye’s own plant in Bulgaria with comfortable applicators made of sugarcane to avoid plastic waste, the product, which costs $125 for the tampon and follow-up consultation, raises the “low standard of [gynecological] care” Milanova says she and countless other women experience.

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