AID contract no. AID/PHA-C-1176 with the University of Arizona for research on sterilization by endometrial ablation

The research will be performed by scientists at the University of Arizona. Researchers will use two cryosurgical techniques -- a metal cryosurgical probe and a mercury-filled balloon cryosurgical system -- to induce cryonecrosis (tissue death) in the endometria of baboon and human subjects. (Only baboons will be used will be used as subjects in experiments involving the balloon system.) Hysterectomies will be performed on all subjects at varying intervals after cryosurgery and tissue specimens will be removed for study. All women participating in the research will already have been scheduled for hysterectomies for medical reasons. The research is expected to produce an improved procedure, known as endometrial ablation, which can be performed by paramedical personnel on an outpatient basis, transvaginally, under local anesthesia.