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Engineers have created earphones that they say could help women get pregnant. Known as Yono, the in-ear wearable is designed to help track ovulation cycles, so that women can find out when they are at their most fertile.

Its creators say the device is more accurate and convenient to use than existing ovulation tracking systems.

The Yono device can monitor a woman’s basal body temperature, or BBT, which increases slightly in the days before a woman is more fertile. BBT thermometers are available, but they can be difficult and inconvenient to use.

A basal thermometer will register tiny temperature variations, but it needs to be used regularly at the same time every day, usually in the moments after waking up. The Yono in-ear device, meanwhile, measures its owners temperature up to 70 times per night.

It then uses Bluetooth to send the data to the Yono app in the morning, which analyses the figures and provides an ideal window for fertility. The Yono design was created by Vanessa Xi, a Stanford University graduate.

When Xi was trying to conceive, her doctor asked her to measure BBT data daily.

She found that even for the most disciplined women, it’s difficult to finish one month’s data measuring, recording, and plotting.

A Kickstarter campaign to commercialise the technology runs through September 17, and it has already raised $20,250 towards its $30,000 goal.

The company is expected to ship its device, which currently costs $99 (£64) in December.