BRACELET THAT CAN PREDICT PREGNANCY

THE days of women waiting for a home pregnancy kit to turn blue or pink could be numbered. Scientists have developed an electronic bracelet that will bleep when a woman is expecting a baby. This could mean the end of the traditional test, which was developed in 1969.

The wearable sensor — similar to a Fitbit activity tracker — measures heartbeat, temperature, how much a woman is sweating and other body changes. Dr Mohaned Shilaih, a senior researcher at the University of Zurich, who has developed the bracelet with Swiss company Ava, said: ‘When a woman gets pregnant, there are several physical parameters that change.

HORMONE

‘These include body temperature, breathing rate and pulse rate. It is known that during pregnancy pulse rate goes up.’ Currently, most pregnancy tests involve women using a stick-shaped device to test their urine for the presence of the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin, which starts to be produced around six days after fertilisation. A window in the device shows whether the woman is pregnant, with some showing a blue line to indicate pregnancy and others a pink line. Electronic devices which can tell when a woman is pregnant are on the market already — but they also detect hormone levels in urine.

CYCLES

The makers of the new bracelet believe it will be more user-friendly. Women will not have to do repeated urine tests when they wake up to check whether they are pregnant, they will simply have to wear the bracelet. ‘You won’t have to go out of your way to do something extra,’ said Dr Shilaih.

The new device could also give an earlier warning of pregnancy. When the bracelet detects that a woman is pregnant, she will be alerted via a smartphone app.

Research on the device was presented at the annual congress of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, but more research is needed before it hits the market.