EMBRYO SCOPE PLUS
With an EmbryoScope Plus, doctors can track an embryo’s growth to ensure they’ve chosen the best embryo, and that it’s developing normally.
In the field of IVF, one of the biggest challenges is to select the embryo which is most likely to result in the birth of a healthy baby. Recently, embryologists had to remove the embryo from the incubator to perform three or four brief evaluations of the developing embryo, at fixed time-points over three to five days, in order to assess embryo quality and improve your chances of conceiving.
The evaluation time allowed for these snap-shot evaluations was limited by the need to minimize the time embryos spend outside of the safe environment of the incubator and avoid stress on the embryo.
Now IVF professionals have another possibility: Vitrolife’s time-lapse solution.
The EmbryoScope is a time-lapse system that consists of a state-of-the-art embryo culture incubator, advanced EmbryoViewer software for improved embryo selection, and an EmbryoSlide culture dish for safe embryo handling.
The embryo is safely contained in the incubator within the EmbryoScope Plus until it’s developed enough to be transplanted into the uterus. While it’s still in the incubator, doctors have the ability to monitor its growth to accurately determine when it’s developed enough to safely be transplanted.
In order to monitor embryos safely and effectively, the incubator has specialized capabilities that include a stereo microscope and a high-quality camera attached to the microscope. The technology in the EmbryoScope Plus enables the camera to continuously take pictures of the embryo’s development in a time-lapse process that can be done automatically without disturbing the embryo.
The time-lapse photos are then combined to create a video showing the embryo’s development over a period of time. By gauging the rate of development, doctors can determine whether or not the embryo is developing normally.
Three Crucial Improvements
There are three crucial improvements the EmbryoScope offers over the past methods of performing IVF. In the past, the need to remove the embryo to monitor its development exposed the embryo to changes in temperature and humidity that could cause stress and prolong its development. With the EmbryoScope Plus, there is no more need to handle the embryo or expose it to temperature and humidity changes, other than in the final transfer into the uterus.
Because of this fear of damage to the embryo, doctors typically would view the embryo only four or five times, giving them a limited amount of development information. Now, embryologists can view the entire development phase if they so choose, and measure the embryo’s development more accurately.
With past technology the limited times that doctors could view and monitor the embryo’s progress often meant that some crucial information could be missing, such as exactly when the embryo divided. The usual benchmarks could not be verified and embryologists had to make educated guesses on the extent of development in the embryo.
With the volume of information provided by the new technology, doctors can identify those embryos with the best chances of successfully resulting in a pregnancy.
Visit the VFC Center to Increase Your Chances of Starting a Family
With the technology supplied by the EmbryoScope Plus, your chances of being successful in starting a family continue to improve. To learn more about IVF technology, make an appointment at the VFC Center at Vejthani Hospital.