Young-pregnant-woman-with-smartphone
    All case studies

    WODIA - Digital Infrastructure for Personalized Maternal Care

    Supported

    personalised care and decision‑making for at‑risk pregnancies

    Enabled

    clinicians to monitor biomarkers and phenotypic data effectively

    Strengthened

    patient engagement through real‑time tracking and reporting

    The Overview

    The WODIA project is a strategic collaboration funded by ERA PerMed, in collaboration with Aarhus University, focused on maternal and infant safety through technology.

    Zitec acted as the private industry partner responsible for the digital platform. We built the user interfaces, data management layer, and API ecosystem for the screening and home monitoring service.

    80% Detection Rate

    An increase in early preeclampsia from 36% to over 80%.

    The Impact

    The technical infrastructure supports a screening program designed to increase the detection rate of early preeclampsia from 36% to over 80%.

    The platform allows for:

    • Predictive support, as clinicians can use precise tools based on biomarkers (PlGF, PAPP-A) and biophysical measurements (MAP).
    • Preventative care, due to a system that identifies high-risk cases during the first trimester (weeks 11-14) for effective prophylactic treatment.
    • Participatory medicine, as patients get to play an active role in their treatment through real-time feedback and medication adjustments.

    Meet our Financial Services leadership team

    Results & tech excellency in one package

    Talk to our Retail experts

    Name Surname

    Position

    Name Surname

    Position

    Name Surname

    Position

    The Market

    According to the WHO, hypertensive disorders account for 16% of global maternal mortality, resulting in approximately 50,000 deaths annually.

    When accounting for the broader spectrum of all hypertensive pregnancy complications, the Preeclampsia Foundation estimates this figure at 76,000 maternal deaths and over 500,000 infant losses per year.

    Adding to the cause, there’s a rising cost of neonatal care and long-term morbidity management in the EU.

    What's more, preeclampsia complicates up to 8% of pregnancies worldwide and has no cure once diagnosed. However, early identification through maternal phenotype data and biomarkers allows for effective preventative treatment.

    That is why the WODIA project required a technical platform to integrate data from hardware sensors used at home and measurements from clinical settings.

    The consortium needed a system to handle sensitive medical data with high security while remaining accessible for pregnant women to input daily measurements. The goal was to replace fragmented data collection with a machine learning decision support system for individual medication dosing and efficient clinical visits.

    The Solution

    Our team prioritized a scalable infrastructure to manage the complexities of personalized medicine. We selected a stack based on PHP and Symfony for a mature development environment. Here is the solution our team proposed:

    Data Management

    We developed a custom API to connect hardware sensors directly to a MySQL database. A critical element was the integration of the Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP) measurement protocol, which is a superior predictor for early preeclampsia compared to standard systolic or diastolic readings. For stability during high-load periods, we deployed Nginx as the web server and reverse proxy.

    The API Ecosystem

    The API follows REST standards to manage medical centers, sensor instances, and patient questionnaires. We used Symfony with FOS Rest Bundle and Swagger to build the API and Nelmio for detailed documentation. Data flows through Symfony services that calculate metrics and averages based on sensor types and specific time intervals.

    User and Admin Interfaces

    We built two distinct interfaces for different user needs:

    • Patient UI – Built with jQuery, Axios, and ApexCharts, this mobile-friendly interface allows patients to monitor measurements in real time and input data manually.
    • Admin interface – Built with Sonata Admin Bundle, this portal provides medical staff with tables and charts that centralize patient metrics for decision support.
    940c25a545db4ce55fb9cda84e9db0f3efeeb6eb

    "In our quest to find the right technological partner for our needs, we had several exchanges with different other companies in the market. We were immediately attracted by the technological architecture proposed by Zitec, as well as by the team brought forward."

     

    The Process

    In hindsight, it’s clear that they weren’t only looking for a new eCommerce platform. They were seeking a strategic partner who could help them rethink their digital operations while maximizing ROI.

    “Digitalization has always been seen as a fundamental part of our strategy, not a response to a specific challenge. From the beginning, we set up a strong infrastructure to support both our back-end systems and customer-facing technologies. Partnering with Zitec and adopting the VTEX platform has positioned us to scale efficiently while keeping operations smooth. The success of this project came down to the close collaboration between our teams and Zitec’s capacity to understand our brand core and communicate openly and professionally, focusing on results. The results have been outstanding, positioning us as leaders in digital service in Romania.”

    The company’s Senior eCommerce Manager

    This transformation was part of a broader initiative to modernize operations in response to new consumer demands, amplified by the pandemic and informed by successful strategies from similar markets. Here’s what followed:

    1. At first, we listened.
    2. Then, we took on a consultative approach to audit the operations.
    3. We engaged with key stakeholders, from external and internal tech teams from Zitec and VTEX, to the business teams and their vendors, for a smooth and efficient transition that met the retailer’s goals.
    4. We rolled out a plan that addresses the essentials: immediate needs, scaling capabilities, cost efficiency, and future feature enhancements.
    5. Transparency was non-negotiable. We worked closely with the retailer to evaluate the total cost of ownership for a set of solutions so that no hidden costs or surprises would arise down the line.
    6. Instead of jumping straight into a major overhaul, we assessed other options, including upgrading the existing system.

    The decision to move to VTEX was grounded in real-world analysis that showed it to be the most flexible, cost-efficient, and scalable option for the retailer.

    Thanks to our agile, iterative approach, we launched an MVP in just four months (half the projected time) without compromising quality. This allowed for real-time market feedback, customer testing, and continuous platform refinement.

    The Process

    Data protection was a fundamental design principle for WODIA. We implemented strict access controls where information visibility depends exclusively on authenticated user roles.

    To ensure GDPR compliance and identity protection, real patient data exists only on separate instances installed by medical centers on their own secure devices. During development, we used exclusively anonymized test data in an isolated and controlled environment.