THE CUE FERTILITY MONITOR COMPARED TO ULTRASOUND AND LH PEAK MEASUREMENTS FOR FERTILE TIME OVULATION DETECTION

A prospective study of the reliability of the CUE Fertility Monitor to identify the fertile time of the menstrual cycle was conducted. The d evice provides a digital measurement of the electrical resistance of s aliva (SER) and vaginal secretions (VL). The readings of the device we re compared with the fertile time detected by ultrasonography of the g rowing follicle and estimation of the LH surge to detect ovulation. Th irteen women participated in the study. Sixteen cycles contained both signals (SER, VL) for the beginning and the end of the fertile period. In 2 cycles a CUE signal could not be found by the device. Using a co mputerized algorithm for evaluation of the CUE signals, the beginning of the fertile period was accurately detected in 14 cycles; in 2 cycle s the signal was found less than five days prior to ovulation. The las t day of fertility was identified correctly by the CUE Fertility Monit or in 10 cycles; in 6 it was incorrectly identified during the time wh en the woman was still fertile. This suggests that the CUE Fertility M onitor utilizing the algorithm on which it currently is based cannot b e recommended for natural family planning. However, we think that the algorithm for evaluation should be improved as useful signals in the m enstrual cycle are detected.