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CANADIAN scientists have observed the process of natural ovulation in
a human being for the first time. Using high-resolution ultrasound, researchers
have watched an egg break through its protective follicle in a woman’s ovary
and move into the fallopian tube. No invasive surgical techniques were used.

Roger Pierson, an ovarian physiologist and leader of the team at the
University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, believes the observation demonstrates
that ultrasound can become a ‘powerful research tool’ for studying the basic
reproductive processes in humans. The exact mechanism of processes such
as ovulation is still largely unknown.

Christo Zouves, head of the in vitro fertilisation programme of the
University of British Columbia, said: ‘I think it’s great if they’ve actually
documented the process.’ Although he believes there are no immediate clinical
benefits to watching live ovulation, Zouves agrees that the potential for
research is ‘exciting’.

Pierson and his colleagues used a standard ultrasound device to monitor
the ovary. Doctors routinely use such equipment to image the fetus, in much
the same way that sonar is used in navigation. A transducer sends out high-frequency
sound waves which are reflected or absorbed by the body’s soft tissue in
characteristic ways. The information is digitised, analysed and presented
as an image on a monitor.

When it is used to monitor a fetus, the transducer is moved externally
across the woman’s abdomen. In the ovulation study, however, the scientists
inserted the transducer into the volunteer’s vagina. ‘We’re imaging ovaries
from a centimetre or less away, so we’re getting superb resolution,’ Pierson
said.

To ensure that volunteers spend as little time as possible in the laboratory,
the researchers manipulate their reproductive cycles by giving them various
hormones. Pierson claims that the result is a natural ovulation, not an
artefact of chemical treatment.

According to Pierson, the team was only three weeks into the experiment
when they caught the ovulation. The 21-year-old research volunteer was watching
a Pink Panther video at the time.