Februar 29, 2012

_ Project: Monitoring of Woman’s Body _ Objectives The body of a woman is partly regulated by different hormones even during early childhood and the level of hormones is decreasing with age. Every hormone is produced in different parts of the body and gives a sign of the actual condition of the body. At puberty, hormones begin to make major, lasting changes to a girl’s body. Those changes are reflected for example in the size of breasts or the start of menstruation. A part of the brain called the hypothalamus starts to release increasingly large and frequent pulses of a hormone called gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). This stimulates the pituitary gland (also in the brain) to produce luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which in turn cause a girl’s ovaries to start producing other hormones. All the machinery necessary for going through puberty is present at birth, but the body keeps it switched off for many years. During the menstrual cycle, each individual hormone follows its own pattern, rising and falling at different points in the cycle, but together they produce a predictable chain of events. For women who want to be pregnant, the fertility days can be calculated or the changes of the temperature of the body or the combination of different hormones can be measured. If the egg released from the ovary is fertilised and a pregnancy results, a woman’s hormones change dramatically. The information of different data and the correct interpretation is (in a normal case) not available for the woman. In some cases, the woman uses the help of her gynecologist for example, if she wants to be pregnant. Apart to the physical changes during the pregnancy, the body of a woman has chemical alterations as a normal development of the pregnancy. Unfortunately some women present complications during the pregnancy like gestational diabetes, listeriosis or toxoplasmosis. These sicknesses present signs that can be measured and can be helpful for an early diagnose. Which of these chemical changes in the body of a woman are possible to be monitored or measured? How is it possible to get this information? Is it possible to monitore constantly? In which cases could the monitoring be necessary? Is it possible to get the necessary information for a pregnancy proposal? Which information is relevant for the woman and for the doctor? Is it possible to have a mobile monitory system? Is it possible to measure the influence of medication or stress? If yes, how is this information to be interpreted? _ Inputs I want to realise this project together with an university or a company. Some possible options are: - University of Zürich - ETHZ - Proteus Biomedical - Cardionet - Bodymedia - Toumaz