Latest in In-Vitro Fertilization Technology

Technologies that revolutionized In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

Tremendous progressive developments have been seen in technology, especially in reproductive medicine. Since the first successful IVF attempt in 1978, Assisted Reproductive Techniques (ART) have been emerging with novel technological advancements. In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is the most accepted and adopted procedure of ART where these new techniques are conjoined and merged with the traditional multi-staged procedure. Some of the recent developments in IVF include:

Egg/ embryo vitrification:Vitrification has changed the ways to improve the successful freezing of eggs/embryos and preserve them for later use. Vitrification allows rapid freezing of gametes/embryos along with the use of a cryoprotectant that can minimize the DNA damages caused due to ice crystal formation during slow freezing. Studies in assisted reproductive medicine indicate that the use of vitrified eggs/embryos can improve the IVF pregnancy chances and cause minimal cellular damage to the eggs/embryos.

Genetic Screening: Preimplantation genetic diagnosis/screening (PGD/PGS) can improve the chances of a successful IVF and reduce the possibility of multiple pregnancies. PGD/PGS helps test the embryos for the presence of chromosomal anomalies, genetic defects. It also allows the selection of viable embryos without any genetic mutations.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): Sometimes, certain male fertility factors or female infertility conditions do not allow the sperm to penetrate the hard covering of the egg and fertilize leading to fertilization failure. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) can help address this situation where the sperm is directly injected into the egg’s cytoplasm, piercing through its thick hard shell and helping fertilize the egg.

Also Read : How Many Injections For IVF Treatment

Laser-assisted Hatching: Lasers have been a boon not only to cosmetic applications but are used widely even in assisted reproduction. During the IVF procedure, the fertilized eggs/embryos generally break through their hard covering before they get transferred into the woman’s uterus for implantation. In cases where the egg does not hatch by itself, lasers are used to enable hatching and help successful IVF implantation.

i-womb technology: Since the whole procedure of IVF is performed in a lab, the embryo labs are designed to provide conditions similar to that of the female reproductive tract. Intelligent womb or i-womb technology can ensure the maintenance of an optimal embryo lab environment that is essential for embryo growth and development. This new reproductive technology has transformed embryo labs with its continuous monitoring systems (CMS) and cloud-based applications. These modernized embryology labs facilitate monitoring of quality parameters and even the slightest variation in the lab parameters is reported in real-time.

OMYA Infertility Treatment Centre has embraced and endorsed these new reproductive technologies that have transposed IVF to a new level of assisted reproductive medicine.