If it is successful, it could be a game-changer, ensuring that contraception is a shared responsibility between couples.
A new long-lasting, non-permanent male contraceptive implant is being trialled at Epworth Freemasons in East Melbourne in a world-first.
The ADAM study involves a hydrogel being injected into the vas deferens (tubes that carry sperm) to cause blockage of sperm travel from the testes acting like a temporary vasectomy.
The hydrogel dissolves after approximately two years and the procedure may then be repeated. Twenty-five men will receive the hydrogel during a day procedure. Four have already been injected.
Professor Nathan Lawrentschuk, a urologist from Epworth Freemasons, is the study's principal investigator.
"The three-year study will investigate whether the hydrogel is successful as a non-permanent, long lasting male contraceptive,' Professor Lawrentschuk said.
"If it is successful, it could be a game-changer, ensuring that contraception is a shared responsibility between couples."
The men involved in the study will undergo regular health checks and provide semen samples for three years.
