- To help treat male infertility scientists have built a smart testicle cooler.
- Costing around R5,000, it should be worn for 12-16 hours for up 3-4 weeks to improve sperm count.
- It offers a new non-invasive alternative to male infertility treatment.
They call it the CoolMen, and it’s in essence a testicle cooler.
It is meant to help with the main cause of male infertility, which is low sperm quality and sperm production most often associated with elevated testicular temperature – to produce sperm, the testicles need to be 1-2 Degrees Celsius (°C) lower than your body temperature.
Male infertility can be caused by factors such as: tight clothing; frequent saunas; or spending many hours at the wheel or sitting in front of a computer.
It could also be used to treat conditions like varicoceles, which are enlarged veins within scrotum, the loose bag of skin that holds your testicle, and regulates the temperature of the testicle difficult.
Made by a Polish based company, Cooltec, the engineers say the pouch-like device comfortably cups your testicles. The device records data about the testicles' temperature; the time of use; as well as the type of activity (sleep, sitting work, physical activity) by sending it to a mobile application in the phone.
In November, at the TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin conference, Dorota Partyka, Project Manager Cooltec, said the device was currently undergoing medical trial testing.
Costing between R4,300 and R5,700, Partyka recommends it should be worn for 12-16 hours for up 3-4 weeks to see results.
The data can then be analyzed by an andrologist to increase the effectiveness of the treatment process offering a non-invasive alternative to infertility treatment.
Infertility has been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a social disease.
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