Category: RoboICSI

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!


RoboICSI is recognised at the Medicall Innovation awards 2021

Medicall is India’s largest hospital equipment expo.

Each year, Medicall recognises promising Made in India, made for the world intentions every year through the Medicall Innovation Awards.

SpOvum’s RoboICSI was recognised at the Medicall 2021 Innovation awards in the Medical Equipment category.

This was an opportunity to present our innovation to a panel of experienced Jury and diverse audience at the Medicall 2021, helping get valuable inputs, apart from improving our outreach.

RoboICSI Hands-on-training at Santaan-Origio Academy

Hands on training on RoboICSI at World- class Santaan- Origio Academy ,provides expert level experience in handling the device with ease. This training will be suitable for both Beginners and professional embryologists who are interested in learning about the new technology that RoboICSI works.

To register please fill out the form in the link below

Academy Registration

Bio-mechanical Insights showing RoboICSI is superior to conventional ICSI

Positioning and pipette alignment problem

During ICSI aligning the holding pipette (HP) and injection pipette (IP) in a straight line is very important. Proper alignment is important to avoid the IP entering the oocyte in an angle relative to the HP. If this happens then it creates increased tension on the oolemma, which may lead to tearing of the oolemma. This also leads to miss-deposition of the spermatozoa into the oocyte. [2]

If both the pipettes are not in same plane the oocyte starts rotating off the holding pipette and as injection pipette passed into the oocyte, due to this, the oolemma stretches and it will be prone to rupture. [1]

A tension gets created if a bevel tip of holding pipette is not in parallel to bottom surface of the Petri dish, hence the holding of the oocyte becomes difficult, as the base of the dish avoid the oocyte from meeting squarely on to the holding pipette. [1]

RoboICSI: RoboICSI alignment can be controlled with few touch point actions and getting the RoboICSI Holder in plane with the IP is very easy. And during the alignment of RoboICSI Holder there is no fear of the consumable getting damaged. RoboICSI is highly robust compared to HP.

 

Suction pressure problem

To immobilize the oocyte firmly, air/oil suction is used, and a petite portion of the oocyte is repeatedly sucked into the holding pipette.[1]
This process creates tension in the membrane surrounding the oocytes and thus when an injection pipette is pushed against oolemma, the oocyte is prone to rupture. [1]

RoboICSI: This is a suction free type of immobilization.

A modification in existing holding pipette for promoting oocyte wound healing!!

New technique for mouse oocyte injection via a modified holding pipette by Lyu QF et.al . In this study, a holding pipette (HP) is modified to a trumpet-shaped opening for deeper injection into the oocyte as it is immobilized. [3]

This modified HP with trumpet-shaped opening with 45-55 micrometer ID at the end allows some zona and oolemma to be drawn into the trumpet, which provides more depth for insertion of injection pipette. The advantages of this type of modification are, they allow the oocyte membrane channel to stretch and naturally prolongs the time of extended oocyte membrane channel to return to its normal shape. As a result healing of wounded oolemma will be complete. [3]

Even in case of RoboICSI the holder is designed so that the oocyte is immobilized in such a manner that it provides more depth for deeper injection which has the same advantages as mentioned above.

 

Fertilization rate is higher when the sperm is deposited near the meiotic spindle

Fertilization rate is higher when the sperm is deposited near the meiotic spindle
Highest fertilization rate was found when sperm cells were injected adjacent to the meiotic spindle. It all depends on positioning of polar body relative to the opening of injection needle and this is obtained when the polar body is placed at 6’o clock position. [4]

Assumption: Immobilizing the oocyte using RoboICSI brings the polar body near to the sperm irrespective of position of polar body, either 6 or 12’o clock. When the oocyte injected from 3’o clock position, the deposition of sperm will be very near to the polar body compared to the conventional method.

 

Importance of cumulus and immobilizing the oocyte with cumulus

The percentage of embryos reaching to blastocyst stage in IVF is more compared to ICSI. Cumulus cells possess highly specialized trans-zonal cytoplasmic projections that pierce through zona pellucida and form gap junctions at their tips with the oocyte. This intimate association allows cumulus cells to fulfill vital roles, supporting the maturation of the oocyte and relaying endocrine and other environmental signals. According to studies performed with the oocytes possessing cumulus clusters, these type of oocytes showed significant increase in blastocyst formation. [5]

Assumption: RoboICSI can seamlessly immobilize the oocytes with cumulus and helps in injection.

References:

  1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267979757_Oocyte_Degeneration_Subsequent_Intracytoplasmic_Sperm_Injection_ICSI
  2. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/205891581000100207
  3. https://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(10)00458-X/fulltext
  4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10527988
  5. https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/21/11/2972/2939480