Embryo Selection

Embryo morphokinetics are subtly affected by patient and treatment parameters exhibiting complex relationships rather than a systemic effect, as analysed using multiple regression on 2376 embryos from 639 patients.  

Barrie, A., Homberg, R., McDowell, G., Brown, J., Kingsland, C. & Troup, S. (2017) Preliminary investigation of the prevalence and implantation potential of abnormal embryonic phenotype assessed using time-lapse imaging. Reprod Biomed Online 34 pp. 455-462.   This retrospective, single site observational study aimed to delineate five abnormal embryonic developmental phenotypes, assessing their prevalence, development potential and suitability for inclusion in embryo selection models for IVF. In total, 15,819 embryos from 4559 treatment cycles cultured in EmbryoScope® incubators between January 2014 and January 2016 were included. Embryos exhibiting an abnormal phenotype may have reduced developmental capability, manifested in both embryo quality and implantation potential, when compared with embryos of normal phenotype.

Barrie, A., Homberg, R., McDowell, G., Brown, J., Kingsland, C., Troup, S. (2017) Embryos cultured in a time lapse system result in superior treatment outcomes: A strict matched pair analysis. Human Fertility 20 pp. 179-185. A retrospective, strict matched-pair analysis on 728 treatment cycles between January 2011 and September 2014 was performed. 364 treatment cycles, where all embryos were cultured and examined in EmbryoScope®, were matched to treatment cycles where all embryos were cultured in a standard incubator with conventional morphological examination.

Barrie, A., Homberg, R., McDowell, G., Brown, J., Kingsland, C. & Troup, S. (2017) Examining the efficacy of six published time-lapsed imaging embryo selection algorithms to predict implantation to demonstrate the need for development of specific, in-house morphokinetic selection algorithms. Fert Steril 107 pp. 613-621 Objective To study the efficacy of five embryo selection algorithms (ESAs) at predicting implantation when applied to a large, exclusive set of known implantation embryos with the aim of demonstrating the need to develop specific, in-house ESAs. Design A retrospective, observational analysis. Setting Fertility Treatment Centre Patients Nine hundred and eighty embryos derived from 887 treatment cycles performed between September 2014 and September 2015. Patients undergoing treatment by either IVF or ICSI were included. Embryos were cultured using GTL™ (Vitrolife) at 5% O₂, 89% N₂, 6% CO₂, 37°C in EmbryoScope® instruments. Conclusion The results from the examination of the published ESAs examined highlight the need for the development of in house, patient, treatment and environment specific ESAs. These data suggest that currently available ESAs may not be clinically applicable and lose their diagnostic value when externally applied.