Decalchongnang

If you’re pregnant and want to be able to access a period of the womb, there’s a solution.

The world’s largest medical lab is developing menstrual doors, which can be placed under the skin to provide access to a period.

In a study published this week in the journal Cell Stem Cell, researchers from the University of Chicago and Columbia University demonstrated that the doors can deliver a “pulse of hormones” to the uterus, leading to the birth of a healthy baby. 

The technology isn’t ready for prime time yet, but the researchers say it could be a significant step in addressing the problem of infertility, which is estimated to affect between one and two million women globally. 

“These doors are just one step,” said Dr. Rachel Lippman, one of the researchers and a professor of biomedical engineering at the University.

“But we have this amazing opportunity to do something amazing, and do something that has not been done before.” 

Lippman said the research team hopes to commercialize the technology for a variety of different medical uses.

For instance, menstrual doors could be used to provide intrauterine devices (IUDs), which are a form of contraception that are available in a variety from birth control pills to sterilizing rings. 

Lipsman and her team have also tested the idea of menstrual doors in the lab, and they’re currently using the technology to test how they could work with human cells. 

For the study, researchers implanted the doors into a mouse uterine follicle and tested whether they would stimulate a signal in the cells, triggering a hormone response.

In response, the cells began to divide and release hormones, which then affected the uterine lining. 

Researchers also used the cells to test the potential of using the doors to deliver an anti-follicle drug, called the cyclobutane receptor agonist.

This drug blocks the cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 enzyme, which causes the body to release the hormone progesterone, and blocks COX-1, which inhibits it. 

A more immediate application for menstrual doors might be an antiobesity drug, which helps prevent weight gain. 

In the future, the researchers are planning to develop a vaccine for COX and COX enzymes that would prevent the birth defects that can occur during pregnancy and early childhood.

Lippmann said the goal is to develop these vaccines in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company Novartis, which she said has already developed a vaccine using the same technology.

“The goal is for us to get that vaccine into clinical trials and get it on the market in the next few years,” Lippsman said.

“We’re in the process of doing that right now.”