SALIVA AND CERVICAL MUCUS MONITOR TO DEFINE OVULATION

PRELIMINARY STUDIES PERFORMED BY APPLICANT IN COOPERATION WITH DR. GEORGE BETZ, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, INDICATE THAT THE FERTILE PERIOD IN WOMEN CAN BE DEFINED BY MONITORING ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SALIVA AND CERVICAL MUCUS. PREVIOUS INVESTIGATORS HAVE SHOWN THAT ELECTROLYTE CONSTITUENTS OF THESE FLUIDS CHANGE CYCLICALLY IN RELATION TO CONCENTRATIONS OF REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES IN WOMEN. MORE DATA ARE NEEDED TO VALIDATE THE METHOD. A PROBABLE PHYSIOLOGICAL RATIONALE FOR OBSERVED CHANGES IN SALIVARY AND VAGINAL IONIC CONTENT AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO IN THIS STUDY, FIFTY WOMEN WILL RECORD DAILY MEASUREMENTS USING A SPECIALLY DESIGNED INSTRUMENT. BASAL BODY TEMPERATURE (BBT) WILL BE RECORDED, BUT WILL NOT BE USED TO DEFINE THE TIME OF OVULATION. OVULATION WILL BE DIAGNOSED BY LUTEINIZING HORMONE (LH) ASSAY AND, WHERE APPROPRIATE, BY ULTRASOUND SCAN AS WELL. STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF THE CORRELATION OF THE ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS WITH OVULATION WILL BE PERFORMED. IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN A VERY USEFUL TOOL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INFERTILITY IN THE NEAR FUTURE. LATER, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE INSTRUMENT WILL ALSO BE USED TO AID NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING.