Doctor of Gynecology Enters the Brain-Computer Interface Field, Aims to Develop a BCI Headband to Alleviate Women's Menstrual Emotional Issues | Early-Stage Project
Text by | Hu Xiangyun
Edited by | Hai Ruojing
For many women, menstruation is not just a repetition of the physiological cycle but also a double test of the body and mind. Abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, anxiety, irritability... These discomforts brought by premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can even affect work and life in severe cases. However, the current mainstream relief methods still highly rely on painkillers. Taking drugs for a long time poses a risk of side effects, while physical hot compress and rest adjustment can bring some relief but have limited effects.
Is there a more gentle and non-invasive way to safely and effectively relieve menstrual discomfort? This market pain point has attracted a reproductive doctor to cross over into the field of brain-computer interface, trying to use technology to bring new solutions to women's menstrual health problems.
Zizhi Galaxy was founded in 2026 and focuses on the development of products such as non-invasive brain-computer interfaces. Dr. Huang Helong, the president of Zizhi Galaxy, graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China. He has many years of academic accumulation in reproductive science, has worked in Yunfeng Fund, CCB International, etc., and is also a serial entrepreneur with more than 10 years of investment and financing experience in the medical technology field. Currently, nearly half of the technical team members of Zizhi Galaxy have doctoral degrees, covering disciplines such as brain science and cognitive neuroscience.
Huang Helong mentioned that the reason for choosing to layout in the brain-computer interface track for his second entrepreneurship is mainly based on a comprehensive consideration of factors such as industry prospects, market competition pattern, and resource reuse. First of all, at the policy level, "brain-computer interface" has not only been included in one of the six future industries in the "15th Five-Year Plan" of the country, and various regions have successively established special funds for brain-computer interface and brain science; at the same time, many provinces in China have set government guidance prices for brain-computer interface-related projects, providing key support for the clinical application and commercialization of enterprises.
More importantly, the awareness of brain-computer interface in the mass market has gradually increased. "Driven by technology celebrities such as Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the critical point for the brain-computer interface to move from the serious medical scenario to the mass consumer market has arrived. This is also the original intention of our choice of the non-invasive brain-computer interface technology path and our hope to develop innovative products more suitable for benefiting the public." Huang Helong said.
After determining the technical path, the selection of products and scenarios has become the next key link. Huang Helong introduced that, combined with the team's previous academic and work experience, they explored the potential market for the application of brain-computer interface in the field of gender health. And menstrual pain management is the first application scenario selected by the team, hoping to open up a new path of "brain-computer interface + consumer grade" for this.
The logic lies in that there is a physiological structure of the "hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis)" in the human body. By monitoring or regulating the activities of this axis, the brain-computer interface technology can be combined to implement gender health scenarios, such as women's menstrual health, postpartum depression, male erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, etc.
"Currently, the clinical intervention methods for such problems are mainly hormonal drugs, which often have problems such as large individual differences and potential side effects (such as mood swings and poor long-term medication compliance), and there is a lack of non-drug digital innovative therapies. The market's demand for such safer and personalized alternative solutions is very clear." Huang Helong introduced.
Based on this judgment, Zizhi Galaxy's first product chose to start from the women's menstrual health scenario of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). A survey of 230,000 women in 140 countries said that more than 80% of women have experienced PMS symptoms at least once in their lives. In severe cases, they may even have depression and suicidal tendencies.
Huang Helong explained that the root cause of women's mood swings and increased pain during menstruation lies in the fact that hormonal changes affect the brain's regulatory function. Specifically, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is the core area for the brain to regulate emotions from top to bottom, while the primary motor cortex (M1) is involved in the descending inhibitory pathway of pain signals. Based on this, the Zizhi Galaxy team designed a product in the form of an intelligent headband called UnaBand, which precisely targets the brain areas for emotion and pain management.
It is reported that this product integrates three medically verified technologies: electro, sound, and smell. Transcranial electrical stimulation has a history of more than 30 years of application in the serious medical field and can be used to assist in improving symptoms such as depression, pain, and Parkinson's under specific parameters; in addition, clinical studies support that acoustic interventions such as white noise and pink noise have the effect of relieving emotions and reducing pain, and specific fragrances can reduce anxiety and irritability to a certain extent. The three work together from different mechanisms and are expected to initially achieve the relief of menstrual emotions and pain problems.
Image source: Zizhi Galaxy
"We designed UnaBand in the form of a headband. In addition to considering that the DLPFC and M1 are mainly located on the left front side and top of the head, which are suitable for intervention through a head-mounted device. Moreover, the headband itself is a commonly used accessory for women in daily life, which fits the user's usage habits and reduces the acceptance threshold. In addition, the team has also invested a lot of energy in industrial design, using dopamine color schemes to balance the sense of technology and appearance, making the product more like a luxury accessory rather than a medical device." Huang Helong said.
In May this year, Zizhi Galaxy officially launched UnaBand in Silicon Valley, USA. Currently, the product is mainly divided into two versions: the basic version and the Pro version. The core difference between the two is that the basic version only has three intervention functions of electro, sound, and smell; while the Pro version adds EEG brain wave collection ability in addition to the intervention functions, which can realize the real-time collection of the user's brain wave signals and the quantitative monitoring of emotion and pain perception, thus forming a closed-loop regulation system of "collection - intervention - feedback".
Image source: Zizhi Galaxy
In terms of market promotion, Zizhi Galaxy plans to adopt a strategy of online and offline linkage and simultaneous promotion at home and abroad. The overseas market will be the priority layout direction, and the product is expected to be officially launched in August. The product is positioned in the mid - to high - end market, and the core customer group focuses on urban women with medium to high incomes. In terms of pricing strategy, the basic version will be priced at the same level as similar brain-computer interface products on the market to lower the user's threshold for trying.
It is also learned that from the perspective of the product matrix, women's menstrual health is just the starting point for Zizhi Galaxy. The non-invasive brain-computer interface products will first expand to two scenarios: weight loss and improvement of male sexual function; in the longer-term plan, the company will also layout in the rehabilitation and silver-haired markets and cooperate with intelligent hardware ecosystem enterprises to explore the possibility of "brain-computer + AI" to realize the interaction of all things.