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.
Happy to share that @spovumtechnologies has successfully collaborated with DYU Women and Childcare, Bangalore. Dr Prashant Gowda and Dr Jyothi Bandi are the prime movers of this hospital and their hospital hosts truly best-in-class facilities including the smARTIVF platform of SpOvum. DYU also takes pride in providing the best quality treatment for patients. DYU brings world-class to Bangalore! If you know anyone in and around this place you may spread the word. Thank you. DYU Women and Healthcare 1098, 14th Main Rd, Sector 3, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102 Contact: 080 4865 5556 /8050404040 Visit: https://www.dyuhealthcare.com/
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
World Health Organization (WHO) defines Infertility as Failure to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.
Here are some of the misconceptions about Infertility.
Myth 1: Treatment for Infertility is complex and expensive It depends upon the condition of the patient. Depending upon the degree of the complexity of the situation different procedures like Ovulation Induction (OI), Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI), and Invitro fertilization (IVF) are available. The procedures need not be complex and expensive. Except for the case of IVF, others are out-patient treatments
Myth 2: Infertility is due to a female’s inability On the contrary, males contribute significantly to infertility[1].
Myth 3: Infertility treatment assures success Depending upon several aspects the success rate is estimated to be about 40% or more[2]
Myth 4: Infertility treatment is affordable only to the Rich Indian medical eco-system is making conscious efforts in ensuring that the treatment is accessible and affordable without compromising on quality.
Myth 5: Infertility treatment can be taken at any age While it seems to be true age plays a significant role in achieving success. The odds of success improve if one takes it at an earlier age.[3]
Let’s collaborate…
If you have questions or if you want to be a part of this myth-busting venture about infertility and conception using ART, you can reach out to contact@spovum.com or send a message on 9513646022
“If you or anyone you know need help in and around Bagalkote reach out to Mane Hospital’s LifeNu IVF Center. It is quite accessible and affordable. It is situated very close to both the Railway station as well the Bus Stand of Bagalkote. LifeNu in collaboration with SpOvum intends to bring the best in class ART technology to its patients!”
– LifeNu IVF Center, Mane Hospital
References:
Kumar N, Singh AK. Trends of male factor infertility, an important cause of infertility: A review of literature. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2015 Oct-Dec;8(4):191-6. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.170370. PMID: 26752853; PMCID: PMC4691969.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26752853/
Malhotra N, Shah D, Pai R, Pai HD, Bankar M. Assisted reproductive technology in India: A 3 year retrospective data analysis. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2013 Oct;6(4):235-40. doi: 10.4103/0974-1208.126286. PMID: 24672161; PMCID: PMC3963305.https://academic.oup.com/hropen/article/2017/2/hox011/4062213
Megan L. Sneed, Meike L. Uhler, H. Edward Grotjan, John J. Rapisarda, Kevin J. Lederer, Angeline N. Beltsos, Body mass index: impact on IVF success appears age-related , Human Reproduction, Volume 23, Issue 8, 1 August 2008, Pages 1835–1839, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/den188
SpOvum has been operating successfully at Mane hospital’s LifeNU. While SpOvum is taking care of their operations including Technology-enablement, Embryologists, Dashboard, Maintenance, Calibration ad a bit of counseling. Recently SpOvum has also installed its flagship product- RoboICSI® holder, and smART Alerts system. SpOvum is making a conscious effort to see that LifeNU meets its KPIs along the Vienna consensus.
Largely, it has been successful in achieving so. For example, we have got an ICSI Damage rate of 0% (Benchmark from Vienna consensus is ≤ 5%), a Day3 Embryo Development rate of 84% (Benchmark from Vienna consensus is ≥ 70%), Blastocyst cryo survival rate of 100% (Benchmark from Vienna consensus is ≥ 99%)
SpOvum is making strides in ensuring IVF hospitals excel in providing quality IVF treatment to patients.
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!
The connection of beauty to the eyes of the beholder is much deeper than what it looks. Different people have different perception of reality or on things. Some might find somethings good while other may find it bad. In this study let us concentrate on Morphological inspection.It is the best tool and it has wide range of observations for a given sample…Let’s find out how?. The image below was asked for assessment to the embryologists in a conference and was told to grade the oocyte accordingly.
Oocyte image given for the quiz [courtesy : ESHRE Atlas of human embryology]
Around 20 of them took up the quick quiz. The image that was given during the quiz was taken from ESHRE Atlas of human embryology. Below the image were a list of buttons which were related to the grading of the oocytes like: Maturity, Size, Zona, SER etc. They had to select the appropriate options referring to the image.
The result of the quiz was made into a pie charts for better representation and understanding. We were surprised to see the answers obtained.
Zona appearance, for example appeared to be Uniform for 63.2% of them and Non-uniform for 36.8%.
Likewise, maturity of oocyte for a M2 oocyte was 83.3%, M1- 11.1% and GV 5.6%.
Maturity graph [M2;GV;M1]
Grading the oocyte based on quality, 50% has told it is good, 25% abnormal, 15% approximately mature and 10% said almost normal.
Grade quality of the oocyte
The polar body had sections like – Shape, texture, size and fragments. Shape: 2 of them found it to be irregular, 10 of them opted oval and 5 of them found the oocyte to be round. Based on the texture of PB- 10 of them found it smooth and 7 of them rough. The PB size was selected normal by 15 of them, smaller and enlarged by 5 of them. 7 of them found the PB to be fragmented whereas 9 of them found the PB to be normal without any fragments.
Polar body grading
Zona pellucida grading of the oocyte
Vacuoles and SER have got the same percentage of answers. Absent is 62.5% and Present is 37.5%.
