The Province Newspaper, May 10, 1999
An innovation for ovulation – BC designed fertility indicator for women no larger than a lipstick ready for sale in Canada

A new device that measures fertility could soon have Canadian women salivating. Literally.

The Luna Fertility Indicator is a portable device developed by a New Westminster company. It analyzes saliva, and in so doing is able to map the changes in a woman's hormonal system throughout her cycle.

It's no larger than a lipstick case and consists of nothing more than an acrylic slide, a tiny, powerful microscope, a focus, and a handle. You simply lick the slide, let it dry, and hold it up to the light: What you see, if you are ovulating or approaching ovulation, is a phantasmagorical pattern of crystals resembling ferns which indicates fertility.

Armed with the Luna, its makers insist, a woman can "take control" of her cycle to settle the age-old question: to conceive or not to conceive.

Health Canada approved it as a medical device in March. With a launch planned for the end of May, the Luna is poised to storm the natural-family-planning market and, indeed, the world.

As Jim Emmerson tells it, the idea for the Luna clicked three years ago, as he sat watching a
late-night documentary about human fertility on CNN. The 54-year-old divorced tradesman had no inventing or design background, or even children of his own.

Before starting up the small construction company he owns in New Westminster, B.C., he'd spent much of his working life as a surveyor with hydroelectric companies around the world. In his spare time he tinkered away at the Luna, named for the moon, and eventually came up with a prototype.

He approached banks and the government for backing, but no one would take a chance. So he hit up some buddies, "all blue-collar people," he says, and over beers after work he talked a couple of dozen of them into putting up the money to get Luna off the ground.

So far he has sunk $300,000 into research and development, half of it his own. "It's kind of like magic," says "J," a Toronto woman in her thirties who has been practicing natural family planning, or fertility awareness, for a few years, and who recently tried the Luna. "I knew where I was in my cycle, but the Luna really confirmed it. It seemed to be giving me accurate readings." "And it's so simple," she adds. "I just grab it, lick the slide, and lie back down again for a few minutes while it dries. I really didn't expect it to work."

"It's almost like wearing a mood ring," she laughs. "My boyfriend says he's starting to find the
sound of spitting in the morning quite erotic."

In fact, the Luna (which comes with detailed instructions and diagrams) is based on sound
science. Throughout her cycle, a woman goes through hormonal and mineral changes that show up in bodily fluids such as cervical mucus and saliva. When viewed under a microscope, both saliva and cervical mucus in the fertile period (roughly six days around mid-cycle -- though every woman is different) show a distinct pattern: the appearance of crystallized structures that look like ferns. During the nonfertile period, the readings consist of shapeless dots, or what scientists call "dotted structures."

"It's not a contraceptive in any way," says Melissa Gervais, vice- president of marketing at Luna Fertility Indicator Inc., in B.C., which is promoting the Luna. "It's an aid to detecting your fertility cycle."

Emmerson is reluctant to talk numbers, but an independent test on a similar, German-made
device, the PC 2000, had an accuracy rate of 97% when used and interpreted properly.

Luna's two biggest customers so far (the device is available by e-commerce at www.lunafertility.com) have been women who are trying to get pregnant and people, such as Roman Catholics, whose religion prohibits them from using birth control.

The Luna sells for $64.95, plus tax, and can last a decade -- about $6 a year.

That makes the Luna safe, noninvasive, and economical for women who can't or don't want to use "artificial" birth control, for postpartum women who are breast-feeding and don't want to become pregnant, and for women tracking irregular cycles.

Still, it isn't for everyone. Using the Luna requires some commitment and responsibility, and a willingness to learn about the body. It's important to avoid smoking, liquids, and solids for at least two hours before testing as this can distort the sample. Also, disturbances in the upper respiratory system, such as colds, can cloud the reading. But, for the non-squeamish, a dab of cervical mucus on the slide should work just as well.

The Luna can be ordered at 1.888.818.5862