An inexpensive and edible aid for the diagnosis of puberty in the male: multispecies evaluation of an alternative orchidometer

Increasing testicular volume—a useful index of puberty in the male—is measured with an orchidometer, a graded series of ovoid beads on a string.1 This instrument is reliable, but at £28.50 ($43.00) it is prohibitively expensive, and it is usually unobtainable when needed.2

Deeply concerned by the national shortage of orchidometers, two of us (PB and GW) made a serendipitous discovery that led to this study. Briefly, Teasers and Truffle, two chocolates in the Celebrations assortment (Mars UK, Slough), are uncannily similar in size and shape to the 8 ml orchidometer bead (figure). This observation presented a timely opportunity to cut clinic waiting times and costs, two problems that continue to dog the NHS. We therefore compared the conventional orchidometer with its chocolate surrogates, focusing on the key properties of reliability, durability, and palatability.