Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology (RADx® Tech) ACT ENDO Challenge

Overview

RADx® Tech ACT ENDO Challenge. Advancing Cures and Therapies and ending Endometriosis diagnostic delays. National Institutes of Health logo, with tagline, Turning Discovery Into Health. Woman looks toward the sky. Icons representing double helix, female reproductive system, microscope, test tube with blood, abdominal pain, clipboard. The National Institutes of Health is offering up to $3 million in cash prizes to accelerate development of non-invasive technologies to improve diagnosis of endometriosis—a common and often debilitating gynecological disease. The RADx® Tech ACT ENDO Challenge seeks to shorten the time to diagnosis, eliminate the invasiveness of current techniques, and/or improve accessibility, safety, convenience, and costs of diagnosis. NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) are co-leading the multi-phase challenge. Submissions are due October 11, 2024. Final winners are expected to be announced in March 2026.

Topic Areas

Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other places in the body. These patches, also called lesions, can bleed like what typically occurs during menstruation. While symptoms vary between patients, endometriosis can cause debilitating chronic pain, abnormal uterine bleeding, and infertility. Currently, the only way to confirm an endometriosis diagnosis is through laparoscopic surgery, which is invasive, requires recovery time, and is not accessible to everyone.

The RADx Tech ACT ENDO Challenge seeks innovative and non-invasive solutions, such as imaging technologies, in vitro diagnostic devices, clinical laboratory tests, wearable devices, smartphone-enabled diagnostic tools, integrated sensing technologies, and digital health platforms. Submissions will be evaluated using the RADx Tech “innovation funnel” approach, which compresses the technology development timeline by using expert teams to simultaneously address scientific, technical, regulatory, clinical, and commercialization requirements across milestone-based stages.

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