EmbryoScope hikes success rate by 17%
A new IVF technology EmbryoScope, that can increase success rates by 17 per cent and also allows parents to keep a watch on their baby from the moment of conception, was launched in Mumbai on Monday. This latest technology promises to change the way embryos are grown and selected in a lab.
The technology helps doctors track the growth of embryo in real time. The advanced incubator, called EmbryoScope, helps the doctors select the best embryo to implant in the mother’s womb. This technique increases the success rate of IVF cycles by 17 per cent.
“We normally use it for couples who have failed to conceive with IVF earlier. We can plot out which embryo is growing the fastest and is the best, and then implant it. Normally, we would miss the signs of bad embryo growth,” said Dr Nandita Palshetkar, consulting IVF expert, Lilavati Hospital. Dr Palshetkar said that they have used the technology for about 15 couples so far.
Doctors use box incubators where the embryo is removed periodically to check the growth under the microscope. “Without this, we would miss the signs of growth in the process,” said Dr Palshetkar.
The Embryoscope, in which 72 embryos can be grown, takes photographs of each every 20 minutes. “The clinics can give parents access to these photographs. The child can also be shown these photographs in the future,” said Dilip Patil, Trivector Scientific Private Limited, a Mulund-based company, which is marketing the equipment in India.
The technology has been in clinical use in Europe and other parts of the world since 2009. “The equipment ensures ethical practice. Since the embryo is observed so closely, it reduces the chances of manipulation,” said Dr Marcos Meseguer, who runs Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Spain. The Spanish institution has used the equipment for about 4,000 IVF cycles, with about 60 per cent success rate.
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