The skin patch that can tell women when they are most fertile

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:56 PM on 04th June 2008

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Lydia Ferguson from the fertility team at CTC demonstrates the DuoFertility device

Women will be able to tell the exact moment they are most likely to conceive thanks to a new skin patch.

The device measures the tiny changes in body temperature which indicate when ovulation occurs.

It is far more accurate than any current system and could save the NHS - and individual couples - a fortune on unnecessary fertility treatment.

The patch, called DuoFertility, was developed by Cambridge Temperature Concepts Ltd, a firm started by PhD students at Cambridge University, and is expected to go on sale later this year.

Chief Scientific Officer Dr Oriane Chausiaux said: 'This is a real breakthrough, and could save couples - and the NHS - hundreds, even thousands, of pounds in unnecessary tests and procedures.'

The patch consists of a small rubberised patch about the size of a ?1 coin, which women stick onto their skin, near their bra strap, with waterproof double-sided tape.

It stays on night and day, and records the minute changes in the woman's temperature, including the crucial body basal temperature, which can then be read using a sensor similar to a supermarket bar code scanner.

Dr Chausiaux said: 'Monitors currently available rely on the user waking at the same time each day, not sleeping with their mouth open, or moving before they have done the test - all these can affect the result.

'Our system gathers much more accurate data over the full 24 hours, and can "learn" about the wearer's personal cycles, becoming increasingly accurate after the first month of wearing.

'The results are displayed on the reader using coloured lights, or it can be plugged into any computer using a USB port, and will display the information as a standard graph which can be printed off.

'It doesn't need any special software, and people could even plug it in in an internet cafe without any problem.'

The monitor contains a new type of battery which uses very low power and will last up to eight months.

The reader can be recharged using a standard USB cable.

Initially, the kits will not be cheap - costing around ?500 - but Dr Chausiaux believes it represents good value compared to IVF treatment.

'An initial blood test costs ?600, and couples who have failed more than two IVF courses have to pay that themselves,' he said.

'We've talked to GPs about DuoFertility and they've been very enthusiastic - it provides them with accurate information about exactly when and how often a woman is ovulating - or not.'

The co-founder of the company, Dr David Naumann of Frimley Park Hospital, explained: 'Charting body basal temperature is often the first step that we recommend to our patients to promote conception as it not only helps them to identify the best time to try, but also it confirms that ovulation has occurred.'

Fertile: A new skin patch will tell women when they are most likely to conceive

Body Basal Temperature (BBT) is your temperature when you first wake up in the morning or after at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep.

When a woman ovulates, hormonal changes trigger a slight rise in her BBT - around half a degree Celcius - which lasts at least until her next period.

Women are most fertile on the day of the temperature spike and on the few days preceding it, so an accurate picture of when that is can help improve chances of conception.

The fertility monitors currently available on the market require women to either take a daily urine sample to identify hormonal changes or wake up very early every morning and manually measure and record their BBT to identify the temperature change associated with ovulation.

With one in seven European couples now facing problems conceiving, maximising the chances of natural conception by identifying precisely when ovulation occurs is critical.

Recent research has discovered that 86 per cent of women do not know exactly when they ovulate.

DuoFertility is currently in production and the first 100 monitors will be given out to volunteers who will test its accuracy against other types of fertility predictors.

Dr Chausiaux said: 'We'll give each couple another system to try alongside for comparison - a urine sampler, a microscope to look at saliva, or a temperature monitor.

'The trials will last four months initially, but the couples will be welcome to keep the equipment after that if they want to.' 

The patches will go on sale in High Street pharmacies this autumn.

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