A High-Tech USB Pregnancy Test? Really?

We live in a techie world where ovulation, pregnancy, even baby's diaper changes can be charted via a multitude of apps. So it's about time someone developed a pregnancy test that not only tells you whether you're about to put on 40 lbs. in the name of creation, but also gives you lots of other sophisticated, computer-driven data about your baby-to-be.

The cleverly named p-Teq USB Pregnancy Test Kit requires users to pee on a stick, just like all the other home pregnancy tests on the market. But that's where the similarity ends. Uncap the other end of the wand to expose a USB connector to insert into your computer.

"The power from your USB port starts the electrospray ionization process, creating a spectrograph of the various masses for your analysis," according to ThinkGeek, which advertises the pregnancy test on its website. "Get it? Your analysis? Urinalysis? *rimshot* Moving on."

According to ThinkGeek, the p-Teq's mass spectrometry software analyzes hormones including human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which rises in pregnancy; hyperglycosylated hCG (hCG-H), which aids in detecting pregnancy before a missed period; and luteinizing hormone (LH), which helps predict ovulation.

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INFANT ESTROGEN LEVELS TRACKED THROUGH DIAPER RESEARCH

With the help of babies and more than 5,000 of their diapers, Emory University researchers have developed an accurate, noninvasive method to determine estrogen levels in infants.

The method, previously used in nonhuman primates, will allow researchers to learn more about the association between estrogen levels in human infants and their long-term reproductive development as well as the development of sex-specific behaviors, such as toy preference or cognitive differences. What's more, the method will also allow researchers to look at how early disruption of the endocrine system affects long-term maturation, a growing concern among researchers and physicians.

Surprisingly little is known about hormone levels during human infancy. Previous human research has focused on the measurement of hormones in blood, urine and saliva. The new data are the result of using fecal samples collected from cotton diapers.

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