device designed to detect the moment of ovulation in female mammals, far enough in advance to organize fertilization.
The ovulation predictor device addresses the limitations of existing methods by detecting chemical compounds in cervical mucus to predict ovulation within a specific timeframe, offering improved accuracy and user convenience.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- FR2023009989
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Utility models
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-09-21
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-28
- Estimated Expiration
- 2033-09-21
AI Technical Summary
Existing ovulation prediction methods, such as LH hormone detection, are restrictive and fail to provide predictive accuracy once the peak concentration is exceeded, making them non-predictive.
The device detects the emergence of a dominant follicle by identifying the presence of specific chemical compounds in cervical mucus, such as sodium chloride, using a reaction with a detectable reagent like silver nitrate or a colorimetric reaction.
This method allows for the prediction of ovulation within 24 to 36 hours by detecting the initial flow of cervical mucus, providing a more reliable and user-friendly approach compared to hormone dosage methods.
Abstract
Description
Title of the invention: Ovulation predictor
[0001] The present invention relates to a device intended to detect the moment of ovulation in female mammals, sufficiently in advance to organize fertilization.
[0002] The principle, to arrive at this result, consists, on the biological level, of examining events (hormonal or other) closely associated with the imminence of ovulation, events which can be highlighted by physicochemical or biological processes.
[0003] This is the case with the hormone called LH, whose peak concentration, in fluids such as urine or blood, is used in a commercial product under the name "Clearblue", for women.
[0004] In this device, LH is measured in urine by various means. Its disadvantages, apart from the fact that its use is very restrictive, lie in the obvious fact that the peak concentration values must be exceeded to know that it is a peak. But then, it is no longer predictive.
[0005] Also, for our device, the subject of our invention, we have retained an event from the biological economy of the reproductive system, namely: emergence of a dominant follicle, preparing to expel an oocyte a few days before the obstruction of the canal from the uterus to the vagina, by a viscous fluid.
[0006] Next comes the production of an aqueous fluid rich in chlorides (sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium) for example sodium chloride solution at 9g / l.
[0007] Always following, opening of the canal and sudden flow of the above fluid into the vagina to prepare the progression of the spermatozoa. This event, very precise, is predictive of the ovulation to come in the next 24 hours, 36 hours.
[0008] The device of the invention therefore consists of detecting this flow at its very beginning, concomitant with the imminence of ovulation.
[0009] Detecting the flow therefore also means detecting the presence in this mucus of at least one of these chemical compounds.
[0010] For this detection, we have chosen, in a non-limiting manner, a reaction with at least one of these chemical varieties, associated with an easily detectable reagent (color, turbidity).
[0011] As a non-limiting example, we cite the reaction of a chloride with silver nitrate.
[0012] The process of the device consists of introducing a swab into the vagina, far enough to impregnate it, if necessary, with mucus, then plunging its end, loaded or not with mucus, then immerse this end in a silver nitrate solution: - if the solution remains clear (absence of chlorides) it means that there has not yet been any flow of mucus, and therefore ovulation is quite far away - if the solution becomes cloudy, it is because the mucus contains at least sodium chloride and the flow of this mucus through the canal indicates that the ovulation process has started (ovulation predictable at least in 24 hours).
[0013] Of course, all the variants of the above process lead to the same result using reagents with different varieties of molecules in solutions in the mucus.
[0014] In another possible variant of the method, the swab is impregnated with a reagent which, after introduction into the vagina, can react with a variety of molecules present in the mucus, and signal the reaction by colorimetry.
[0015] In yet another variant, sodium is detected in its chloride, present in the mucus, by the flame test.
[0016] The impregnated swab is presented to a non-colored flame, such as the flame of a gas burner (a lighter for example).
[0017] The presence of sodium then colors the flame a characteristic orange color, a reaction predictive of ovulation (convenience in a breeding or stable, itinerant system).
[0018] The process is applicable to all mammals, bovines, ovines, equines, canines and, of course, women.
[0019] Let us add that the method of the present invention has a considerable advantage: it works in all or nothing, unlike other methods using daily, variable values, the evolution of which must be interpreted (peak to decide whether the desired result has been obtained, proximity of ovulation: method of hormonal dosages).
Claims
Claims
1. The present invention proposes to determine, in a mammal, the date, in its cycle of its reproductive system, of ovulation and, better still, the prediction of this date so as to predict the insemination process at least a few dozen days before ovulation. The device of the invention is based on the synchronization of two manifestations: one being ovulation (expulsion of the oocyte by the dominant follicle) the other, preceding by a few dozen hours, the flow through the cervix of a plasma secreted by the mucous membranes, essentially consisting of an aqueous solution of chlorides, essentially sodium chloride, dosed at 9 g / l. Also, the device of the invention is characterized by the detection of the first appearance of plasma in the vagina, to deduce the imminence of ovulation.
2. Ovulation predictor device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the detection of the plasma is carried out by introducing a sample swab into the vagina and impregnating it on the cervix.
3. Ovulation predictor device, according to claim 1 characterized in that the presence of chlorides on the sample is detected by physicochemical means.
4. Ovulation predictor device, according to claim 1 characterized in that the physicochemical detection means is a chloride reagent.
5. Ovulation predictor device, according to claim 1, characterized in that the chloride reagent is a silver nitrate solution, the precipitation of silver chloride of which results in a cloudiness of the solution, thus indicating the presence of chlorides in the sample (particularly sodium chloride) and, thereby, the imminence of ovulation, the aim sought by the invention.
6. Ovulation predictor device, according to claim 1 characterized in that the presence of chlorides, and in particular, of sodium chloride, is detected by the bluish flame method and turns yellow in the presence of sodium in the plasma.
7. Ovulation predictor device according to claim 1 characterized in that the procedure for using the device is as follows: introduction of the swab into the vagina and impregnation on the cervix remove the swab to dip it in the silver nitrate solution If the solution remains clear, ovulation is not yet close. If the solution becomes cloudy, ovulation will occur in a few dozen hours. In another variation, the swab sample is exposed to the blue flame of a gas burner, such as a lighter. If ovulation is still far away, the flame retains its blue color, but turns yellow if sodium chloride is in the sample, thereby indicating that ovulation will occur within the same time frame as before.