Time-Lapse Embryo Monitoring
Concept Fertility uses the Embryoscope incubator system for its time-lapse monitoring of embryos whilst they are in the laboratory.
With IVF, eggs and sperm are combined in the laboratory to form embryos. The embryos are then kept for up to 6 days in an incubator where they grow until they are ready for transfer into the womb of the prospective mother. The reason they are not transferred immediately is that the vast majority of embryos fail to develop in the first few days. They would most likely have failed in the womb too, this is completely normal, and the embryos that are still growing after several days are the ones most likely to continue to grow into a baby.
What are the advantages of culturing your embryos in the EmbryoScope™?
A time-lapse incubator is in many ways just the same as a conventional incubator. However, it also has cameras inside, which continuously take pictures of the embryos. This means that embryologists can check how the embryos have been growing throughout their time in the lab, rather than just having a snapshot once a day. And the reason they do this is because this information can predict how the embryos will continue to grow after they are transferred into their mother’ womb. If, for example, a couple have 6 embryos but only one of them is viable, time-lapse incubators can help embryologists identify the viable one so that the prospective mother only has to have one embryo transferred rather than potentially repeating the embryo transfer process 6 times. This saves time, money and most importantly, stress.
Embryoscope has access to this developmental information from hundreds of thousands of embryos around the world and has developed artificial-intelligence algorithms to suggest to embryologists which are the viable embryos. This guidance is a useful adjunct to the embryologist’s skill in selecting the best embryos.
Free to all IVF patients
An Embryoscope incubator is a very advanced and expensive piece of equipment. Concept Fertility includes its use in our IVF cycles at no extra charge to our patients because we believe in offering the best service to everyone, rather than just those who choose to buy this essential extra.
