The most recent advances in IVF technology are changing the landscape of reproductive treatment. Infertility specialists are constantly coming up with new ways of helping people achieve their dream of parenthood. These breakthroughs, which include genetic screening, time-lapse embryo imaging, artificial intelligence, and enhanced culture medium, provide hope to families battling with infertility. One such invention that helped immensely in the monitoring of embryos is called the Embryoscope.
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What is an Embryoscope Incubator?
An Embryoscope incubator is a new kind of incubator that allows embryologists to track embryo cell divisions whilst the embryos remain inside the incubator. The incubator includes an embedded camera that can capture images of the embryos at regular intervals.
What is IVF?
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of reproductive treatment in which an egg is fertilized with sperm on a glass surface. The procedure entails monitoring and promoting a woman's ovulatory process, taking an ovum or ova from her ovaries, and allowing a man's sperm to fertilize them in a culture medium in the laboratory. After 2-6 days of embryo culture, the fertilized egg (zygote) is put into the uterus via a catheter with the goal of generating a viable pregnancy.
Role of Embryoscope Incubator in IVF
Embryos generated in an IVF lab must be placed in an incubator to ensure their safety. The EmbryoScope is a form of time-lapse incubator that provides optimal environmental conditions for embryos to develop outside the body. The EmbryoScope keeps the embryos in the incubator for the entire 5-7 day incubation period. During this period the Embryoscope enables infertility professionals to watch the IVF embryo development at all times, without taking them out of the protective incubator. This allows doctors and patients to stay informed regarding the embryo's development.
Embryoscope IVF success rates are high as many patients have seen an increase in their chances of becoming pregnant with the high-quality embryos developed in an Embryoscope.
How are embryos chosen without the Embryoscope?
In a typical IVF cycle, the fertilization process is identical, with retrieved eggs and sperm mixed in a sterile plate containing a particular culture media for growth. The embryos are cultivated in a typical micro-incubator, which simulates the circumstances found within a woman's body. During normal IVF, embryos are withdrawn from the incubator at regular intervals to monitor their progress under a microscope. These regular embryo monitoring helps embryologists determine which embryos are most likely to thrive when put back into the patient's uterus, resulting in pregnancy.
Once the embryologist has done each examination, the embryos must be retued to the incubator as soon as possible to prevent any potential damage to the developing cells while they are out.
Advantages of Embryoscope
These are the advantages of an Embryoscope:
- EmbryoScope is an advanced instrument for improving the embryo selection procedure.
- It can assist professionals in identifying potentially valuable information about the embryo like how it is developing, and its ability to survive transfer and implant.
- It keeps the embryo in a regulated and secure environment at all times and reduces the hazards associated with moving and analyzing maturing embryos.
- It helps in the selection of the optimal embryo for transfer.
Who would benefit from using the Embryoscope?
Although the method can be used to improve the time to pregnancy for all types of patients, its benefits are most apparent when regularly developing embryos are prioritized over embryos that have undergone erroneous or abnormal stages of development during incubation. Without the Embryoscope, the embryologist cannot determine whether an embryo has followed the typical path of development and has the best possibility of resulting in a pregnancy.
