MYOMETRIAL ACTIVITY AND IUCD .2. PROPAGATION WAVES

3 channel transducers built into Lippes loops (sized) were introduced into 7 human volunteers and left in place for periods of 3-6 months to determine the presence of uterine muscle propagation waves. Definite fundus-to-cervix waves were seen during menses, but it appears that during the rest of the cycle uterine muscle contractility is unsynchronized without any evidence of a pattern. Mostly unsynchronized uterine contractility in the human female during the proliferative phase without any wave pattern suggests that, in the main, sperm transport from the cervix to the tubal opening is probably a haphazard affair rather than due to peristaltic action of the uterine muscle.