Men's underwear with fitted frontal pouch and removable ergonomic gel pack for testicular cooling

Abstract

Male infertility due to reduced sperm count has received dramatically increased scientific attention in recent years, particularly the effect of excessive testicular heat on sperm motility. Currently all products designed for testicular cooling are prohibitively cumbersome, or potentially toxic. While ice can be applied directly to the testicles, this invention provides and a convenient and comfortable alternative that does not exist today: underwear specifically designed to be fitted with a freezable gel pack, permitting users to keep moving around. Researchers increasingly believe that this sort of cooling can have a positive effect on sperm health, perhaps providing another alternative to other expensive and invasive fertility treatments.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Male infertility due to reduced sperm count has received dramatically increased scientific attention in recent years, particularly the problem of excessive testicular heat, which is often caused by a varicocele, or enlarged vein, and has been proven to be ameliorated by cooling the testicular region.

• • In a study by Mulcahy (1984), fifty men with reduced sperm motility applied ice packs to the scrotum at night, held in place by jockey shorts. After the treatment, both sperm density and sperm motility had at least doubled in 65 percent of the patients.
    • Mulcahy J J, ‘Scrotal hypothermia and the infertile man.’ Journal of Urology, 132/3 (1984), pp. 469-70
  • Jung et al (2005) found a significant increase in both sperm concentration and total sperm count as a result of nocturnal scrotal cooling. For twelve weeks, twenty infertile men (with histories of testicular maldescent and oligozoospermia) used a cooling technique every night, and significant change had taken place by eight weeks.
    • Jung, A., Schill, W.-B., Schuppe, H.-C., ‘Improvement of semen quality by nocturnal scrotal cooling in oligozoospermic men with a history of testicular maldescent.’ International Journal of Andrology, vol. 28/2 (2005), pp. 93-98
  • Zorgniotti and Sealfon (1988) measured scrotal temperatures in 300 sub fertile men and 30 control men. They found a statistically significant difference in temperature between the two groups (1.35 degrees Celsius), suggesting that ‘small intrinsic temperature increases may interfere with the ability of the testis to accommodate to environmental temperature stresses and so lead to abnormal semen and sub fertility.’
    • Zorgniotti, A. W., Sealfon, A. I., ‘Measurement of intrascrotal temperature in normal and subfertile men.’ Journals of Reproduction and Fertility, vol. 82 (1988), pp. 563-66
  • Laven et al (1988) studied fifty-six men from infertile couples. The men were categorised into two groups named ‘cool workers/sleepers’ and ‘warm workers/sleepers’ according to whether or not there was evidence of extra scrotal insulation in their lifestyles. They found a greater number of good moving sperm in the ‘cool workers/sleepers’ group, both per ejaculation and per ml.
    • Laven, J. S., Haverkorn, M. J., Bots, R. S., ‘Influence of occupation and living habits on semen quality in men (scrotal insulation and semen quality).’ Eur. J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol., vol. 29/2 (1988), pp. 137-41

Currently all other products designed for testicular cooling are prohibitively cumbersome, or potentially toxic.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The genesis of the invention came from speaking to men with fertility problems related to varicoceles, many of whom were icing their testicles for at least an hour a day, a decidedly awkward and uncomfortable situation. The advantage of the invention is that it lets men comfortably ice the relevant area—and only this area—without requiring them to remain inactive. Men can even move around the house while wearing the invention, or conceal it beneath their usual clothing, all without having to devise a makeshift absorbent to collect the resulting moisture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1: The underwear, showing the front pouch and an inserted gel pack.

FIG. 2a: The plastic gel pack, unfolded to its full width, showing the gel area

FIG. 2b: A side view of the plastic gel pack, showing how it folds

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention is manufactured in two parts: absorbent cotton blend underwear equipped with an open front pouch over the genital area; a double-V-shaped polymer gel pack that folds along the middle spine, remains flexible when frozen, and is designed to cool the testicles through the underwear and rest beneath them, where the legs meet. The pack is designed to be removable so that it can be easily exchanged for another. The opening of the underwear pouch is elastic so that it holds the gel pack in place.

Claims

1. A testicular cooling garment comprising: a) underwear (briefs and boxer-briefs) containing an open pouch situated over the genitalia and designed to fit b) an ergonomic testicular gel pack that can be frozen, inserted, and removed.

2. The combination defined in claim 1, wherein the freezable gel pack fits into the underwear pouch and can be freely inserted or removed.