Traditional IVF Embryo Culture: Daily Observation Outside the Incubator Reduces Environmental Stability
As modern reproductive medicine continues to advance rapidly, in vitro fertilization, IVF, in which embryos are cultured into blastocysts before being transferred into the uterus, has become one of the preferred treatments for many couples facing infertility due to its higher pregnancy rate.
The traditional embryo culture environment is designed to simulate the mother’s uterine environment. Temperature, humidity, gas concentration, and pH levels must all be strictly monitored to ensure that embryos grow under optimal conditions.
Each day, in order to observe embryo development and cell division, the medical team must remove the embryos from the incubator and examine them under a microscope to assess embryo quality. However, every time the incubator is opened, the stable environment inside the incubator is affected. In addition, this method only allows observation of the embryo’s external appearance at a single point in time, without showing the dynamic developmental process that occurred earlier.
Time-Lapse Imaging Combined with Long-Lasting Culture Medium Dynamically Records Real-Time Embryo Changes
Dr. Hui-Po Li, Director of the Reproductive Medicine Center at Taipei Zhongshan Hospital, stated that in order to improve embryo selection and embryo transfer pregnancy rates, the hospital introduced a Time-lapse Incubator in December.
This system takes photos of embryos every 10 minutes and uses a one-step culture medium that does not require opening the incubator for replacement for five consecutive days. As a result, embryos can grow in a stable environment without being disturbed by external conditions.
Through 24-hour uninterrupted time-lapse imaging, videos are created for physicians to observe on a computer. This provides abundant information for evaluating dynamic changes, such as the speed of embryo division, whether the number of cells is normal, and whether fragments are present. It is a system that allows continuous observation of embryo division and early development.
Time-Lapse Embryo Monitoring Incubator Helps Improve IVF Pregnancy Rates
Dr. Hui-Po Li explained that for older patients who are unable to undergo PGS, or for infertile women with poor ovarian function, poor response to ovarian stimulation, or a low number of retrieved eggs, the time-lapse embryo monitoring incubator can be used as a non-invasive method to select the best embryo for transfer, helping shorten the time needed to achieve pregnancy.
For women with a larger number of retrieved eggs who wish to undergo PGS, embryos with normal division and development can also be selected for testing. This means that not every blastocyst needs to be sent for testing, which can significantly reduce testing costs.
In this way, the system can not only greatly improve pregnancy rates, but also reduce the possibility of miscarriage.
A New Trend in Reproductive Medicine: Introducing Advanced International Embryo Monitoring Equipment
Dr. Li analyzed that the time-lapse embryo monitoring incubator has three major advantages.
First, it provides an absolutely stable growth environment, which supports embryo division and development.
Second, it allows physicians to evaluate the dynamic changes of embryos through time-lapse imaging, rather than simply observing static appearance. This provides much richer information for judgment.
Third, the AI-powered time-lapse incubator can collect and reference big data, helping standardize embryo evaluation and select the best-quality embryo for transfer.
At present, IVF centers in Europe, Israel, Singapore, and other countries have widely adopted time-lapse embryo monitoring incubators. This has become a new trend in assisted reproductive medicine, and many reproductive medicine centers in Taiwan have also listed this equipment as a priority for acquisition.
In December this year, Taipei Zhongshan Hospital Reproductive Medicine Center introduced the latest AI-powered EMBRYOSCOPE time-lapse incubator. After its launch, the center hopes to provide more refined and effective services for infertile couples, helping improve both pregnancy rates and live birth rates.