A German engineer has just won the inaugural James Dyson Awards for devising a new natural male contraceptive. Named Coso, the device is a testicle bath that offers reversible, hormone-free contraception by using ultrasound heat to temporarily stop sperm mobility. We tell you more.
A natural and reversible male contraceptive
Rebecca Weiss, a German engineer, has invented a new natural, painless and reversible male contraceptive. Called Coso, the device looks like a testicle bath. The principle? To heat the testicles to slow down the mobility of spermatozoids. As its creator describes it, it is an “ultrasound and reversible approach to male contraception”.
This is not the first time that heat has been used in the male contraception process. In fact, heated underwear has been used and marketed for several years. More than a thermal method, the Coso device uses ultrasound heat. Indeed, this reversible, painless and hormone-free contraception uses the heat of ultrasound to temporarily stop the mobility of spermatozoa.
The Coso device in practice
To use the Coso device, nothing could be simpler: the user simply places his testicles inside the device which has been filled with water and heated to the required temperature beforehand. During a few minutes, the testicles are subjected to ultrasounds that will suppress spermatogenesis and thus prevent the spermatozoa from fertilizing the egg.
Effective after two weeks, the results of this new male contraception would last a maximum of six months from the last use. The operation can be repeated every two months or stopped if the individual wishes to cancel the effects and no longer use contraception. In any case, Rebecca Weiss explains that this device will have to be used for the first time by a doctor.
An invention that received the first prize of the James Dyson Awards
While Coso seems to be a revolutionary male contraceptive, it will still be a long time before it is available on the market. As Rebecca Weiss explains: “Without valid data, the project cannot be realized. That’s why she has to wait for funding before she can conduct clinical trials. For now, the device has just won the James Dyson Awards, an international award that celebrates design and engineering.