Vaginoscopy is the evaluation of the edema, the swelling, the colour and the amount and quality of the discharge of the vaginal mucosa.

During the vaginoscopy a swab is taken from the vaginal mucosa. It is rolled gently on a microscopic slide and then fixated and stained. Under the microscope the vaginal smear gets evaluated.

The follicles at the ovaries produce estrogens and this results in the proliferation of the vaginal mucosa. In the proestrus the intermediate cells are the dominating cell type.

In estrus the superficial cells are the dominating cell type.

The diestrus (end of the season) can be recognized by migration of leucocytes into the vaginal mucosa. Intermediate cells and deep cells can be mainly found.

The steroid hormone progesterone can be evaluated for the determination of the ovulation.

Already two days before ovulation (while the hormone LH has a high peak) the follicles start to produce progesterone. With ovulation the progesterone rises very quickly so ovulation can be diagnosed.

There are two different kind of progesteronassays, the semiquantitative and the quantitative assay. The semiquantitative assay is an inhousetest, who gives a colouring as result. The colour correlates with a range of progesterone.

<1,0 ng/ml = follicular growth
1,0 bis 2,5 = LH peak
2,5 bis 5,0 ng/ml = Luteinisierung before ovulation
>5,0 ng/ml = Ovulation and production of corpora lutea

The semiquantitative assay allows only in combination with vaginoscopy and vaginal cytology a precise diagnosis.
The quantitative assay is a lot more precise, but the time gap between taking the blood, bringing it to the lab and getting the result is often quite long. This test method gives an exact progesterone value (in ng/ml) and ovulation can be clearly detected.
For insemination with frozen semen this method is absolutely necessary.