IUB
Contraception with a Memory
They would make quite stylish earrings, the 22 tiny copper balls threaded on a flexible, three-dimensional spherical structure. In fact, this is a high-tech contraceptive. Just like the copper in an IUD, these copper balls make it more difficult for the sperm to reach and fertilise the egg. In addition, the presence of this device in the uterus alters its behaviour and characteristics, further reducing the probability of an unwanted pregnancy to less than one per cent. Just like other IUDs.
Why do we then need a new contraceptive? The flexible structure has some special features: there are no points or sharp edges that could irritate the uterus. As soon as it and the balls are slipped into the womb by means of the slender insertion tube, the sphere ‘remembers’ its original three-dimensional form and reverts back to it in a flash. Then what looks like a loose tangle tends to stay put in the uterus, which reduces the risk of it being rejected.