BREAKTHROUGH IN IVF TREATMENT. ~ DIAMONDZ REVOLUTION

Scientist hails breakthrough in IVF treatment

Professor Simon Fishel, one of the world's leading fertility specialists, explains how using time-lapse imaging is enabling scientists to predict which embryo has the greatest chance of a successful birth.

Prof Fishel, one of the original pioneering team that produced the world’s first IVF baby in 1978 said that by studying time-lapse images researchers have discovered that developmental delays in the embryo at crucial stages indicate chromosomal abnormalities (aneuploidy) which will not result in successful pregnancy.

"One of the great problems in IVF, is that we really don't know which are the most viable embryos. That sounds very odd but the reality is that only about 30 per cent of embryos produced after natural conception or IVF are actually viable to produce babies," he said.
Aneuploidy is very common in human embryos and is a major cause of IVF treatment failure and miscarriage. Most aneuploid embryos will not implant but if they do, may result in miscarriage or the birth of a child with a chromosome anomaly, such as Down’s, Edwards or Patau Syndrome.

In conventional IVF laboratories, embryo development will be checked up to six times over a five-day period. With time-lapse scientists have the ability to view more than 5000 images over the same time period to observe and measure more closely each stage of division and growth.

This ability to view detailed images of embryo development combined with certain calculations allows scientists to pick embryos with the greatest chance of a successful birth.