Scientists have designed a machine that they say can help women achieve orgasm at the push of a button.

The device, which is a little smaller than a pack of cigarettes, uses electrodes attached to the patient's spine to trigger an orgasm via remote control. Doctors think it could help women who are unable to achieve orgasm by other means.

North Carolina surgeon Stuart Meloy told New Scientist that he thought of the idea while performing a procedure on a female patient.

“I was placing the electrodes and suddenly the woman started exclaiming emphatically," Meloy said. "I asked her what was up and she said, ‘You’re going to have to teach my husband to do that’."

Clinical trials of the device are set to begin this later this year, according to CBS Charlotte.

Meloy thinks his invention could help rekindle the spark between old lovers.

"If you've got a couple who've been together for a while and it's just not happening any more, maybe they'll get through it a bit easier with this," he told New Scientist.

The idea sounds grand, but the surgery required to implant the device sounds pretty invasive. CBS Charlotte reports:

During the operation, a patient would remain conscious so that a surgeon could correctly pinpoint the right nerves to fit the electrodes in a patient’s spinal cord. Then, a signal generator would be connected which would be most likely implanted under the skin of a patient’s buttocks.