Fertile window and biophysical biomarkers of cervical secretion in subfertile cycles: a look at biotechnology applied to NaProTechnology

Abstract

Fertile window and biophysical biomarkers of cervical secretion in subfertile cycles: a look at biotechnology applied to NaProTechnology José María Murcia Lora1,* , Oscar Martínez Martínez2 , Jennifer Simoni3 , Marian Martínez Calvo4 , Alberto Falces de Andrés5 , Jorge Enrique Mejía6 , Diglio Simoni7 , Juan Luis Alcázar8 1Unit of Restaurative Roproductive Medicine, Clinical Consulting G&E, 26002 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain 2Computer Science, Engineering Department, University of La Rioja, 26005 Logroño, La Rioja, Spain 3Le Moyne College, Biology Department, Syracuse University, New York, NY 10007, USA 4Materials Science Area, Engineering Department, University of La Rioja, 26005 Logroño, Spain 5Engineering Department, University of La Rioja, 26005 Logroño, Spain 6Engineering Department, University Central of Colombia, 110311 Bogotá, Colombia 7Physics and Applied Mathematics Department, University of Navarra Pamplona, 31003 Pamplona, Spain 8Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, 31003 Pamplona, Spain *Correspondence: humanreproductiongye@gmail.com (José María Murcia Lora) Academic Editor: Giuseppe Morgante Submitted: 21 January 2021 Revised: 9 March 2021 Accepted: 13 April 2021 Published: 13 January 2022 Abstract Background: The principal objective of this study was to correlate biophysical properties of vaginal discharge present in the cervical mucus with the timing of the fertile window. In particular, we produce measures of the viscoelasticity of the cervical secretion using two methods. The first uses only the elasticity extracted from the Creighton Model Fertility Care System (CrMs) scale, calculated P-6 ovulation estimated day (OED) with respect to the peak day of the CrMs. The second uses a numerical method that takes into account the changes in viscoelasticity, but without reference to the peak day calculated using the CrMs model. Using both methods, twelve records were obtained from a single female subject. Methods: The methodology used to evaluate the viscoelasticity factor was by measuring the approximate length in centimeters (cm) of the vaginal discharge of cervical discharge. For this, the scale of the stretching graph established by observing the stretching of CrMS was used, taking into account the previous 6 days at peak day P-6. The first method, which we termed CFW (Clinical Fertile Window), uses a measure based on the approximate length (cm) of the maximal stretchiness of the vaginal discharge. The second method we termed SFW (Software-CrMS/strectching) (Software-based Fertile Window). Results: The fertile window was detected correctly in 100% of the cases using either method, and a correlation value of 0.71 was observed between the two methods. Conclusions: We conclude that the assessment of viscoelasticity using SFW algorithm allowed in this pilot study to detect the fertile window and to describe the evolution pattern of cervical discharge throughout the fertile window. Our study provides support for the use of computational methods in detecting the fertile window, taking only into account the time evolution of the cervical discharge throughout the menstrual cycle. Keywords: Fertile window; NaProTechnology; Cervical secretion; Ovulation; Fertility awareness; Subfertility; Biophysical biomarkers; Biotechnology