What is the Embryoscope?

The Embryoscope™ is an incubator that maintains the necessary physiological conditions required by a living embryo while they are in the IVF laboratory. It has an incorporated time lapse system that has a camera that continuously captures images and records them as a video of the embryonic development.

 

This system allows the embryologist to monitor embryo cell divisions while the embryos are still in the incubator and we can carry out a study of the development of the embryos.

Does Embryoscope work?

Based on recent studies, the cell division pattern of the embryos is becoming a valid alternative for selecting the embryos which have the best potential for implantation. There is growing evidence suggesting that certain cell time points and events are especially important for predicting further development potential, and pregnancy potential of embryos. Using these time points we can choose the best embryos among all the embryos of the patient and also give a lot of information regarding the viability of those embryos. These time points can only be recorded fully if it is done under a time lapse camera and routine observations under the microscope does not allow us to capture all of these time points since they can vary between embryos.

 

Some retrospective studies have shown that embryos with specific division times and certain development patterns can have up to 15 – 20% better chance of pregnancy. The optimum times for cell division can be checked more easily and the chances of implantation improved in cases in which selection using Embryoscope™ technology is possible.

How are embryos selected without the Embryoscope?

When you undergo a routine in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle, your embryos will be kept in a strictly controlled environment in heated incubators. The conditions in these incubators mimic the conditions in a woman’s body to provide the embryos with their natural environment. During the period that your embryos are kept in the laboratory, dishes where your embryos are growing are taken out of the incubators at set time points to check embryo development under a microscope. Based on these observations, the embryologists are able to tell which embryos are most likely to result in pregnancy based on morphological observations made on the embryo once or twice a day at important time points. When the Embryologist has finished examining the embryos they must be returned to the temperature controlled incubator as quickly as possible to avoid any potential damage to the embryos.

Advantages of Embryoscope

  • Provides information on critical time points regarding embryo development and therefore provides us with an additional decision-making tool for embryo selection for transfer.
  • Several studies have shown that chromosomally normal and abnormal embryos behave differently in their division times.