New technology offers improved chances for couples undergoing IVF

AARHUS, Denmark – The success rate of assisted reproduction may be significantly increased by the use of revolutionary new technology, reports a study accepted for publication in the scientific journal Fertility & Sterility.

According to one of the world's largest multi-center fertility clinics, Equipo IVI based in Valencia, Spain, the use of the EmbryoScopeTime-lapse System can substantially increase the pregnancy success rate by up to 20 percent.

The EmbryoScope Time-lapse system generates a movie allowing embryologists to monitor various characteristics of embryo development over the entire incubation period, while maintaining optimum incubation conditions in a state-of-the-art incubator. The technology was developed by the Danish company Unisense FertiliTech A/S. It is currently the only time-lapse system with FDA 510(k) clearance and is CE marked as a Class IIa medical device. The system has been adopted by clinics in more than 29 countries.

Equipo IVI examined more than 7000 patient treatments across 10 clinics, performed over a period of two years. Treatments where the EmbryoScope was used to culture and select embryos resulted in significantly better pregnancy rates than standard incubation and traditional selection procedures. This paper represents the first and largest set of clinical data looking at actual implantation and pregnancy outcome using a time-lapse system.

"We have not seen a technology which has the potential to achieve such improvements in more than 15 years. We believe these results can be even greater as we continue to get more information about embryo development," said Dr Marcos Meseguer, lead author of the paper.

"Since ICSI was widely introduced, there have not been any significant advances in technology which have been able to significantly improve success rates in IVF. This technology represents such a breakthrough," said Unisense Fertilitech COO Soren Ankerstjerne. "We believe the positive results reported by IVI come from a combination of superior incubation conditions together with improved information for embryo selection."

Commenting on the breakthrough technology, Dr Meseguer said IVI decided to offer the centre’s patients access to the best possible treatment. "For the childless couple, it's a lifelong dream, and it is fantastic that we can increase their chances of having a baby. At the same time we wilNIKE SB