Pill, IUD, hormonal implant… for more than fifty years, contraception has been essentially based on hormonal methods. Although they have liberated millions of women, they are also sometimes accompanied by side effects: headaches, weight gain, mood disorders, even cardiovascular risks. Faced with growing demand for more natural solutions, Dutch start-up Choice and French company SilMach are currently developing a new hormone-free and reversible contraceptive method.
A miniature implant, controlled remotely
The device imagined by Choice is based on a simple mechanical principle. Tiny valves implanted in the fallopian tubes block or allow the passage of sperm.
These valves, operated by a silicon micromotor designed by SilMach, measure less than a centimeter, or the size of a grain of rice. They are invisible to the naked eye and operate without wires or batteries. Opening or closing is controlled from the outside via a probe which emits sound waves.
“This small device, installed without surgical operation, can be controlled from the outside.explains Pierre-François Louvigné, general director of SilMach. “The idea is that it stays there for the duration of the fertility check, potentially years. When the woman wishes, reversibility requires an appointment, a procedure that can last about an hour, to activate the valve remotely..
The system therefore allows you to choose whether or not to be fertile, without repeated medical intervention or hormonal modification. This type of technology could represent a major advance for women who cannot tolerate hormones, or those who have been affected by hormone-dependent cancer.
© Choice
An innovation inspired by the past
Consulted on this device, Dr Odile Bagot, gynecologist, welcomes the promise of this innovation, while reminding that it is not entirely new. “There is a precedent for this type of implant, it was the Essure implant, a spring system placed at the entrance to the tubes which created a scar in order to block them. It was a definitive system, it was withdrawn from the market because several complaints were made by women who had it installed“.
At the time, more than 10,000 women had reported side effects: pain, bleeding, autoimmune disorders, etc. But according to the gynecologist, subsequent studies showed that no direct link existed between these symptoms and the implant. “It’s a shame, because it was a means of vaginal sterilization.”
The new implant developed by Choice and SilMach uses the principle of tubal blockage, but this time in a temporary and reversible manner.
“This system of temporary tubal ligation is not revolutionary. It appears to be smaller than the Essure system and is reversible. Women will find a natural cycle. This can be interesting for women aged 40 to 50, who have longer, heavier or more painful periods.
But the specialist warns about the installation conditions. “You will probably have to go through a hysteroscopy to install it, because you have to enter the uterus to see the entrance to the fallopian tubes. This will preferably be done under general anesthesia, because otherwise it is a very painful procedure.”
A contraception of the future, but still in the testing phase
Before being offered to the general public, this technology will still have to go through several stages: preclinical tests, validation of CE marking, then human clinical trials planned in the Netherlands in 2026. With commercialization planned for 2032.
If the results confirm the reliability and safety of the device, the implant could become the world’s first reversible mechanical contraceptive method, without hormones or systemic side effects. In the meantime, experts call for caution and scientific rigor. This device must first prove that it is as safe as it is promising.