Using AI to Predict Preterm Birth, with Rubén Molina | Blush & Bloom Podcast | Ep. 48

Using AI to predict preterm birth means catching risk before it becomes an emergency, and that is what Innitius is trying to do. On this week's Blush & Bloom, Gigi Kenneth sits down with Rubén Molina, CEO and co-founder of Innitius, the Spanish medical-device company behind CerviSense. Molina is a civil engineer by training who started in structural analysis, measuring whether a building or a bridge had hidden internal damage, and ended up applying the same wave-based physics to human tissue and women's health.

It is a candid conversation about building something hard in a space that is often overlooked, from a blackboard equation during his PhD to a device now in clinical validation, and about what it means to be a man building for women's health.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• What Innitius and CerviSense do, and how measuring cervical elasticity relates to preterm birth risk
• Why a structural engineer ended up in women's health
• Leaving a PhD to start the company, and when it stopped being a research project
• Why the lab manikin taught them almost nothing about real patients
• How you actually get clinicians to adopt something new
• Why the AI matters, and how the risk models put a single measurement in context
• Being a man building women's health tech, and the funding gap he keeps running into

What is Innitius, and how does it use AI to predict preterm birth?

Innitius builds CerviSense, a device that uses patented wave-based technology to measure how soft the cervix is, then a proprietary AI model that combines that measurement with a patient's clinical history to assess risk. Molina's argument is that softness is an early, objective signal, and that AI turns a raw number into an assessment a doctor can act on.

Why did a structural engineer end up in women's health?

Molina trained in non-destructive testing, evaluating whether a house or a bridge had internal damage without taking it apart. The lab he joined applied those same techniques to human tissue instead of buildings. That crossover, engineering physics pointed at a clinical need, became his PhD and then his company. As he puts it, "I think I was born for this."

Why is measuring cervical elasticity better than what clinics do now?

Today, Molina says, clinicians often assess the cervix by hand, feeling whether it is soft, medium or hard, which means two doctors can reach two different conclusions. Innitius aims to replace that subjective check with a consistent number, so the same patient gets the same reading regardless of who measures. In his words, "it's not about accuracy, it's about clinical practice."

What did testing on real patients teach the team?

A lot, and mostly the hard way. The device worked in the lab on a manikin, then produced inconsistent results in the hospital because clinicians used it in ways the team had never anticipated. The fix was to redesign around real use, not the ideal. "It's not a manikin," Molina says of a patient. "It's a patient that has feelings."

What would Rubén tell his 15-year-old self?

Asked what he would tell his 15-year-old self, Molina reflects on a childhood urge to leave a lasting mark, and on once dreaming of becoming an architect. His answer lands on gratitude for the path he actually took:

"It's crazy because I was having on mind to do something. It was a little bit weird when I was a child and I was always planning to do something that I can leave here for when we were not supposed to be here anymore. And I was thinking in another type of impact. I was dreaming about being an architect. So I wanted to leave here things in another field. But I would recommend him to do exactly every single step he will make because at the end of the journey, he will make impact in other manner, but in a truly spiritual one. So I would recommend him to do exactly what he did."

FAQ

Who is Rubén Molina? Rubén Molina is the CEO and co-founder of Innitius, a medical-device company in Derio, Spain. A civil engineer by training, he moved from structural non-destructive testing into women's health and now leads the team building CerviSense.

What is Innitius / CerviSense? Innitius is a Spanish medical-device startup. Its product, CerviSense, uses patented wave-based technology plus a proprietary AI algorithm to measure cervical softness and assess preterm birth risk and labor timing.

How does AI help predict preterm birth? Molina explains that a single elasticity measurement means different things for different patients, so the AI combines it with clinical risk factors such as prior pregnancies to put the number in context and give the doctor an actionable assessment.

Why does a man building women's health tech matter? Molina is candid that women's health is underfunded and often misunderstood by investors, and he encourages more men to show up as allies, while being clear that women's lived experience belongs at the centre.

Is this medical advice? No. This episode and post are for general information only and are not medical, legal, or regulatory advice.

Resources mentioned

• Book: Build by Tony Fadell, the practical founder's playbook Molina recommends, written by the creator of the iPod and founder of Nest (acquired by Google).
• Innitius / CerviSense: innitius.com

Listen to the full episode

Hear the full conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and explore more guests on the Blush & Bloom podcast hub. If you are building in this space, Asele works at the intersection of technology and women's health at asele.tech.

You can connect with Rubén Molina on LinkedIn and follow Innitius.