Intrauterine contraception: from silver ring to intrauterine contraceptive implant.

Gräfenberg introduced his silver ring in 1928 and by his classic paper, published in 1931, provided intrauterine contraception with a scientific basis. For largely non-medical reasons, the Gräfenberg ring vanished from the scene a few years later, and it took almost 30 years before the method was rehabilitated as a result of a change in mental attitude toward birth control, the awareness of world population explosion, and the introduction of improved intrauterine devices (IUDs). The United States became the epicenter of IUD research in the 1960s but, due to adverse publicity and the threat of litigation, the pendulum swung and European investigators took over the job of improving the IUD. Proceeding from Dr Gräfenberg's classic paper, the major steps in the evolution of the intrauterine devices are retraced with focus on the scientists who were innovative in the field.