High-Tech Birth Control: Battery Electrocutes Sperm
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DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. — A gynecologist says he has developed a birth control device in the form of a tiny battery that electrocutes sperm inside the woman.
The device, tested in baboons at University of Alabama laboratories, was patented Oct. 14 but has not yet been tested on humans, said Dr. Steven Kaali, director of the Women’s Medical Pavilion in Dobbs Ferry.
Working on the principle that sperm die when shot through with electricity for two or three minutes, Kaali developed a procedure using a quarter-inch battery inserted into the cervix with an intrauterine device or attached to a diaphragm. A 3.3-volt electrical charge is sent through the cervical mucus and creates an electrical field that destroys the sperm, he said.
Kaali said the battery could be changed annually and would not cause any discomfort.
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