Category: RoboICSI Workbench (RIWB)

Bulk stiffness and recovery time – a measure of development of mouse embryos

Understanding the onset of embryonic arrest by studying the morphology of the embryos at different stages of their development is a relatively well-understood subject. The qualitative nature of the study makes it difficult to determine and quantify the causes behind the arrest. For successful embryonic development, it is essential to know, non-destructively, and the developmental viability of the embryos at a particular stage.

We investigate the bulk stiffness and recovery time as the viability quantifiers for grading or classifying embryos at the two-cell stage or after the formation of the first cleavage. A simple cantilever beam-based experimental procedure is established to investigate two-cell mouse embryos in two distinct orientations.

Bulk stiffness measurement varies with the embryo’s orientation and deformation. A good quality two-cell embryo shows a significant decrease in stiffness ratio with the deformation. Also, the embryo’s recovery time after releasing deformation may indicate a quality-dependent correlation.

Our study concludes that the bulk stiffness measurements in the two principal orientations, their ratio, and recovery time correlate with the underlying morphology of two-cell stage mouse embryos.

Here is the link for the full paper

https://jrhm.org/bulk-stiffness-and-recovery-time-a-measure-of-development-of-mouse-embryos/#F3

Dr. Keshav Malhotra visits SpOvum

Dr. Keshav Malhotra MBBS. MCE holds a Masters’s degree in Clinical Embryology from Monash university Australia and is one of the few ESHRE-certified Clinical Embryologists from INDIA. He is the Lab Director of Rainbow IVF and now the Director of Malhotra Embryology Training Academy. Dr. Malhotra is the Co-chair of SIG Embryology for ASPIRE (Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction), and he is also on the executive board of ISAR(Indian Society of Assisted Reproduction) and ISPAT(Indian Society for Prenatal Diagnosis and Therapy). He has worked on Key projects pertaining to Embryology in India like the Occupational Standard for Embryologists (Healthcare Sector Skill Council India-2018) and the ISAR – Embryology Consensus 2019. He was recognized as Budding Embryologist of the Year by Economic Times INDIA -2019.

SpOvum® got an opportunity to present its product portfolio to Dr. Keshav Malhotra, who visited SpOvum on 16th Dec 2022. He was fascinated by the RoboICSI workbench especially the one-click sperm immobilization feature of the RoboICSI workbench. Dr. Keshav was really excited when he tried out using the button-based controller and the one-click immobilization feature by himself.

Dr. Keshav Malhotra with Founder Directors of SpOvum

Dr. Keshav appreciated the stiffness estimation experiments on mouse embryos and the vision of applying the observations and their insights in the embryo monitoring system using the AI and ML of SpOvum.

He had some wonderful questions and a few good suggestions and was appreciative of SpOvum’s initiative in bringing innovations to the A.R.T. space through Robotics, Automation, and AI.

From left to right: Kishor, Santosh, Dr. Keshav Malhotra, Ramnath, and Kunal

One-click immobilization feature of the RoboICSI workbench displayed on the screen

SpOvum’s brief interaction with the Oasis team

SpOvum® got an opportunity to present its product portfolio to the team of Oasis fertility headed by Dr Krishna Chaitanya in the early morning of 29th November 2022. Though it was originally expected to be brief (about fifteen minutes) it got extended! Thanks to the intriguing interaction. Dr Krishna and Dr Gaurav had some wonderful questions and were appreciative of SpOvum’s initiative in bringing innovations to the A.R.T. space through Robotics, Automation, and AI.

SpOvum presented its flagship product – RoboICSI® and its ICSI workbench – RIWB™. The scope of automation and some of the key aspects that the innovation can address were discussed. The meeting happened virtually over the Zoom video communication platform. Further, SpOvum presented a live demo of the RoboICSI® gripper-holder, the workbench comprising the programmable manipulators, the Electronic aspiration system controlled by a click-based controller, and an indigenously designed button controller.

SpOvum wishes to engage with the Oasis fertility team to bring a synergetic approach to addressing some of the needs of the IVF ecosystem. As the vision statement of Oasis indicates “To be the trusted experts and leaders in providing evidence-based fertility treatments with compassion” SpOvum has found a common ground for a strong collaboration. Looking forward to a brighter future!