Formed in 1992, Conceptus is involved in developing, manufacturing, and marketing innovative product systems that provide a nonsurgical access to the reproductive tract. Products address improving both diagnosis and treatment of fallopian tube disorders, a primary cause of infertility, and surgical tubal ligation, the most commonly selected method of sterilization worldwide. Women's health is, according to Tunstall, a field whose time has come. First, women's clinical needs are changing, mainly because so many women are deferring childbirth in order to go to college or pursue a career. Large numbers of women face problems with infertility as they have their families later in life.
Sociological factors are also at work.
Women have more economic power, which has, in turn, created more political power. That power has helped influence such developments as the Women's Health Initiative at the National Institutes of Health. They demand that any new treatment options demonstrate cost-effectiveness. The convergence of these three factors has resulted in making women's health a viable business opportunity today. There is a demand for minimally invasive, cost-effective products to address the clinical needs of women.