.svg){kind=small}
Updated on 7 July 2025
Held on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EDT / 7:00 PDT
What's the webinar about?
This webinar explores key aspects of hormonal diagnostics in female reproductive health, focusing on practical approaches to evaluating irregular cycles, diagnosing PCOS, and assessing ovarian reserve and menopause. It highlights the clinical use of key biomarkers such as AMH and FSH, and how hormonal testing supports decision-making in women’s health.
The session also introduces Medix Biochemica’s hormone antibody and antigen portfolio, designed to support the development of reliable IVD solutions in reproductive diagnostics.
It is intended for clinicians, gynecologists, endocrinologists, and IVD professionals involved in developing diagnostic solutions for women’s health.
If you would like to subscribe to future Medix Biochemica Webinars simply click the link below
Discussion points:
Hormonal Diagnostics in Women’s Health
- Evaluation of irregular menstrual cycles
- Hormonal measurements in PCOS diagnostics
- AMH in PCOS diagnostics
- How to measure gonadal function and ovarian reserve
- Evaluation of menopause
- Medix Biochemica’s hormone antibody and antigen portfolio for IVD test development
Key take aways:
- Evaluation of irregular cycles is important to identify health impairments in women
- The PCOS diagnostic algorithm includes serum measurements to evaluate hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovarian morphology
- Ovarian reserve and menopausal status may be supported by serum AMH and FSH measurements
- Medix Biochemica’s hormone antibodies and antigens support the development of reliable IVD tools for reproductive health diagnostics
If you watched our webinar then please let us know how we did!
Contact us for more information!
Webinar Q&A:
1. What are some of the latest trends in hormonal diagnostics for women’s health, especially in fertility and menopause?
Prof. Piltonen: I think we’re moving more toward accuracy in hormone testing. For a long time, we considered FSH to be the best marker, and it still plays a role, but AMH has gradually proven to be more precise. These days, we’re also talking a lot more about premenopausal symptoms. In that context, FSH isn’t always that helpful, since it typically isn’t elevated yet. Still, many women can experience symptoms due to mild estrogen deficiency.
Stress is another important factor, many women at this stage of life are dealing with significant stress, which can further suppress estrogen effects. So, measuring AMH tends to give a clearer picture. I’d say testing is shifting more toward AMH and away from FSH, especially when we look at the full clinical picture.
2. Where do current hormonal tests fall short when it comes to diagnosing conditions like PCOS or menopause?
Prof. Piltonen: I think it’s important to be mindful of how we approach testing, especially considering that some hormone levels can be quite low. That’s why the choice of platform and antibodies, and the companies providing them, really matters. It’s also essential to look at the diagnostic algorithm and explore the biochemical aspects of the symptoms.
Take PCOS, for example. Differential diagnosis is crucial but so is trusting your test results and analysis to support that diagnosis. You need to build a diagnostic picture that’s supported by multiple elements. It’s about having enough information to make a confident diagnosis and also having the courage to make that call when the evidence is there.
Of course, differential diagnostics remain key, especially since many patients are on contraceptive pills. You often need to decide whether to pause those medications to get a clearer picture. So ultimately, having the right tools, enough supporting data, and a solid understanding of what you're measuring, those are the key factors.
3. Looking at the Medix Biochemica hormone antibodies, can you provide any type of technical data on the performance of the antibodies you have available beyond the pair recommendation that you mentioned?
Dr. Voutilainen: Absolutely. We conduct in-house testing for our antibodies and have technical data available on their performance across different assay formats, including sensitivity and compatibility. While assay performance can vary depending on the specific setup and may require further optimization, we do provide performance data for many of our antibodies, including results with clinical samples.
For our reproductive hormone antibodies that we have discussed today, we also have a detailed technical note available online that summarizes key performance metrics. We’d be happy to share this and any additional data relevant to your needs. You can go to our website and find the technical note under the Resources menu.
4. How could AI and machine learning help improve how we interpret hormonal diagnostic data?
Prof. Piltonen: That’s a brilliant question. I think there’s a lot of potential here. We have so many different analytes at our disposal that it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of everything, whether it’s remembering cutoffs or interpreting what the measurements actually mean. As I mentioned earlier, diagnostics is really about understanding what you’re measuring and knowing the thresholds.
This is where I believe AI could play a major role. It could help pull together all the scattered data points, pre-evaluate them, and even suggest possible diagnoses, conditions, or interpretations. That kind of support would be incredibly helpful.
On the flip side, AI could also prompt us to consider something we might have missed—like suggesting an additional test or data point that would help complete the diagnostic picture. So yes, I think there’s a lot of potential.
It might even develop faster than we expect. Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing how this evolves.
5. Exciting to hear about the upcoming PlGF and Sflt-1 antibodies. This is something we are currently looking into. Is there a possibility to get these for evaluation already soon?
Dr. Voutilainen: Great to hear that you're interested! We're equally excited about the upcoming launch of PlGF and sFlt-1. Yes, we can certainly discuss the possibility of providing early evaluation samples. I’ll coordinate with your local sales representative so we can follow up directly with you.
And as mentioned, the official launch is planned for this autumn, but we’re happy to hear from others who may also be interested in early access. Please feel free to reach out directly or send a message throught our website and we’ll make sure to get in touch.
6. Just curious - what are some of the concrete things you're doing at Medix Biochemica to be more sustainable overall?
Dr. Voutilainen: That’s a great question. Sustainability is really something we are actively focus on in both our work and manufacturing. We focus on high product quality and safety, but we also take steps to reduce our carbon footprint. Our supply chain is held to high environmental and social standards, and we offer animal-free and recombinant production options. Last year we also received the EcoVadis Silver rating, which places Medix Biochemica above almost 90% of companies assessed for their sustainability practices. It’s something we’re proud of and always working to improve.
7. How do lifestyle factors like stress, diet, and exercise affect hormone levels and the accuracy of diagnostic tests?
Prof. Piltonen: Lifestyle and overall health have impact on hormonal levels. For example, in PCOS, obesity aggravates insulin resistance and increases androgen secretion and lowers binding protein production in liver. On the other hand, stress and excessive exercise can affect hypothalamic function where pituitary activity is decreased resulting in downregulation of gonadotropins and decreased estrogen synthesis.
8. Can we get a recording of the webinar?
Dr. Voutilainen: Yes, we always provide a recording after each session. You can expect to receive the link in an email within two business days after each webinar, and here’s the link for: Know Your Tools: Hormonal Diagnostics for Fertility, PCOS & Menopause. Feel free to watch it at your convenience and share it with your team. To stay informed about upcoming topics and events, we recommend subscribing to our event updates. That way, you’ll never miss a session that’s relevant to you.
Our speakers and host for the webinar
