Researchers have been working to design a copper IUD that is highly effective, has minimal pain and bleeding associated with its use, can be provided to nulliparous women, is easy to insert and remove and has lower accidental expulsion rates. IUDs have a long history of use in the United States. The market for IUDs has declined in the United States, not because IUDs are not effective or
are unsafe, but because the number of lawsuits filed against the manufacturers
have resulted in financial losses, even though the manufacturers won most of the lawsuits.
The new copper IUDs discussed here are not approved for use in the United States, but
are used and approved in many countries, including their countries of origin. Developers and manufacturers report fewer expulsions, higher continuation rates, lower failure rates and easy insertion-removal as main advantages of all
of these IUDs.
GyneFix
GyneFix is a frameless IUD. It consists of six 5-millimeter copper sleeves threaded onto a length of semi-rigid suture materials. The upper and the lower copper sleeves are crimped onto the structure thread to prevent slippage. A Cochrane meta analysis report did not find any difference between the expulsion and failure rates of GyneFix and other copper IUDs.
CuSafe
CuSafe is a T-shaped copper IUD with flexible and uniquely shaped arms. Both ends of
the device’s transverse arms curve inward to reduce uterine tissue irritation.
It has been approved in Europe since 1996. The monofilament tail is welded into the
shaft to reduce ectocervical abrasion. According to its German developer, the device’s flexible design facilitates easier and less painful insertion and removal, and the curved, “fundus-seeking” arms resist expulsion.
Fincoid350
Fincoid350 was developed in Finland. The plastic skeleton comprises two parts: curved horizontal arms and a copper-coated vertical arm. The horizontal arms lock into a grove on the vertical stem. This makes a movable joint that easily constricts and expands with uterine constrictions.
