Cambridge Temperature Concepts Wins Prestigious Award From the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance for Fertility Monitor DuoFertility

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cambridge Temperature Concepts (CTC), the company behind the revolutionary fertility monitor, DuoFertility, has been awarded an I Award by the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) in recognition of its contribution to solving healthcare challenges. DuoFertility uses wireless technology to predict when ovulation will occur and offers couples trying for a baby the best possible chance of conceiving naturally. News of this win follows CTC's award in January of 100,000 Euros as the European finalist in the Qualcomm Ventures' QPrize competition.

CTC was founded in 2005 by a group of scientists from the University of Cambridge to use wireless sensing technology to help the one-in-seven couples who struggle to get pregnant naturally. DuoFertility consists of a small wireless sensor that's worn as a stick-on patch under a woman's arm. It measures body temperature 20,000 times a day to detect the subtle change in temperature that occurs around ovulation. Results are wirelessly transmitted to a hand-held reader, which highlights the most fertile time up to six days in advance, giving couples plenty of time to plan to be together. When the hand-held reader is plugged into a computer via the USB port, it sends the results to CTC's fertility experts in Cambridge for further analysis and advice.  

A distinguished WLSA judging panel selected CTC from 100 international applications to win the I Award for Best Clinical Applicability. Award applicants were asked to articulate how their solution addresses healthcare challenges by reducing costs and improving outcomes. Couples using DuoFertility get the level of personal support and success rates normally only associated with in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics but without the expense, invasive procedures or even the need to leave home. In a study of 99 patients with unexplained infertility who qualified for IVF treatment, six months use of DuoFertility was shown to be as effective in achieving pregnancy as one cycle of IVF. (To read the full academic paper, please visit: http://www.duofertility.com/duofertility-vs-ivf.) In addition to pinpointing ovulation, the data DuoFertility generates can be also be used to detect a range of medical conditions. In these cases, a report is generated for the couple's doctor that summarises the results and recommends potential courses of action.

DuoFertility is available in the United Kingdom for 495 pounds Sterling (approximately US$800), which is roughly one-tenth of the cost of a typical cycle of IVF. CTC is so confident in the efficacy of their product that DuoFertility comes with a "pregnant in one year or your money back" guarantee, giving customers total reassurance in choosing this new breakthrough technology.

Don Jones, Vice President, Wireless Health, Global Strategy and Market Development, Qualcomm Labs and Chairman of the WLSA, said, "Cambridge Temperature Concepts is representative of everything we look for in an I Award winner – a powerful convergence of wireless and healthcare technologies that both reduces cost and improves patient outcomes.  Their DuoFertility product offers a low cost, non-invasive and convenient alternative to IVF and other invasive fertility therapies for the many couples who experience unexplained infertility and we're delighted to recognise this important step forward in wireless health."

Dr. Shamus Husheer, CEO and co-founder of Cambridge Temperature Concepts, said, "We founded our company because we saw that wireless sensing technology had the potential to help millions of infertile couples and so we are especially pleased to be recognised by this prestigious award from the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance.  DuoFertility has a potentially transformative effect on best practice in infertility treatment and has been available in the UK and Europe since 2009. The product is currently under review for FDA approval in the United States - the next market we hope to address as part of our mission to help more couples build families."

About Cambridge Temperature Concepts

Cambridge Temperature Concepts Ltd is a privately-owned company behind the revolutionary fertility monitor DuoFertility. DuoFertility gives couples trying for a baby the best possible chance of conceiving naturally by continuously measuring a woman's body basal temperature to identify when ovulation occurs. DuoFertility provides the most precise and accurate information on a woman's most fertile days, and six months of use has been shown to be as effective as a cycle of IVF treatment. CTC is funded by the Cambridge Angels, Cambridge Capital Group, Downing Enterprise, Qualcomm and private investors.

DuoFertility is available direct from www.duofertility.com and also from Boots.com.

DuoFertility is currently featuring in the BBC 2's television series Britain's Next Big Thing.  

For press images, please visit: http://www.duofertility.com/press/press-images-and-logos. For more information, please contact:

[email protected]

+44 (0)7906 638351

About the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance

The Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) is a special purpose trade organization for innovators, globally relevant companies, scientists, physicians, and policy makers. The WLSA is dedicated to creating value and improving health, globally, through the convergence of communications technologies, consumers, caregivers and all sectors of the life sciences and technology environment. WLSA partners and companies all over the world are using wireless health innovations to better manage chronic conditions, pre-empt disease and improve the lives of the elderly and under-served populations around the world.

SOURCE Cambridge Temperature Concepts