How the EmbryoScope Adds Precision to In Vitro Fertilization

By Nina Desai, PhD, HCLD

The health risks for both patient and fetus associated with high-order multiple pregnancy have spearheaded a movement to limit the overall number of embryos transferred during in vitro fertilization (IVF) to just one for young patients.

Oocytes extracted during IVF surgery can be inseminated or directly injected with sperm to create embryos. The average young patient generates eight to 15 embryos per IVF cycle.

Selecting the best embryos for transfer

Embryo selection for transfer is based on critical assessment of morphological parameters during embryonic development. Currently, these morphological assessments are limited to once a day at set times, since repeated removal of embryos from the incubator environment for observation may result in undesired temperature and pH shifts in the embryo culture dish.

Embryo development is a dynamic event. Static observations on embryonic growth can therefore be limiting in their ability to discern differences between embryos at a similar cell stage.

Numerous data suggest that the timing of specific events, such as pronuclear formation, syngamy, early cleavage, compaction and cavitation, indicates an embryo’s developmental potential. The ability to continuously monitor an embryo’s progression toward these benchmarks may therefore aid in selecting the best embryos for uterine transfer.

Benefits of an “incubator with eyes”

The EmbryoScope® is an FDA-cleared incubator with a built-in camera that allows continual observation of embryos using time-lapse imaging. This special incubator and the software to simultaneously analyze and contrast developmental benchmarks for up to 72 embryos at a time (six patients with 12 embryos per dish) is a powerful new tool for the IVF laboratory.

This instrument will also contribute to our understanding of early events in preimplantation embryo development and to the identification of new grading criteria that may be more predictive of implantation potential. The EmbryoScope also provides a safe, controlled environment for human embryo cultivation without disturbance.

Dr. Desai, Director of the IVF Laboratory in Cleveland Clinic’s Fertility Center, is a member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.