The success rates of the process are still less than 40%. This fact is related, among other things, to the correct selection of the embryos that will be implanted in the uterus. The new technology will help doctors locate the embryos with the greatest potential for success
43 years ago, on November 10, 1977, the process of in vitro fertilization in humans began for the first time in history. Eight and a half months later, the world's first test-tube baby, Louise Joy Brown, was born, and already in September 1982, the first test-tube baby in Israel, Romi Neumark, was born. In 2010, when 28-year-old Romi Neumark was already a well-known personality on "News XNUMX", one of the developers of the method, Prof. Robert Edwards from the University of Cambridge, won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology.
Sometimes IVF is the only solution
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is in many cases the only solution open to the parents-to-be - single mothers, same-sex couples, couples suffering from hereditary disorders related to the reproductive system and more. In this process, the woman undergoes a treatment that increases the amount of eggs; The eggs are extracted from the woman's ovary and are fertilized in the laboratory by the man's sperm; A few days later, after the fertilization has already led to the formation of embryos at the beginning of their journey, some of the embryos are inserted into the uterus.
Despite the importance of IVF, the success rates of the process are still less than 40%. This fact is related, among other things, toCorrect selection of embryos to be implanted in the uterus - a choice that is still made manually by the embryologist and without clear and uniform criteria.
This picture may change dramatically thanks tomedicine - An innovative technology developed by researchers from the Taub Faculty of Computer Science at the Technion and the Embryonics company. This technology, which improves the selection of embryos to an unprecedented level, is now presented on the MIDL website - a conference for applications of deep learning in medicine - inArticle which was published under open peer review. The technology was developed by Prof. Alex Bronstein from the Taub Faculty of Computer Science and the founders of the Embryonics company David Silver, who studied at the Technion as part of the Rothschild-Technion program for the outstanding and the company's CEO Dr. Yael Gold-Zamir.
In their article, the researchers describe an innovative, data-driven system that is expected to dramatically improve the prediction of the embryo's chances of adoption. This is based on time-lapse imaging videos. The study is based on 8,789 such videos, of which 272 are embryos for which there is real data on the success of the pregnancy. The predictions of the automatic system were compared to the predictions of a panel of experts (embryologists) with experience in the field, and Ubar showed a dramatic improvement in the selection of embryos - 12% improvement in positive prediction (predicting the success of the process) and 29% in improving the negative prediction (Disqualification of embryos due to their low chances of being accepted).
The research was supported by the Innovation Authority.
for the scientific article- HERE
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- A breakthrough in in vitro fertilization - selecting the successful embryos in a non-invasive way
- It is not certain that it is possible to choose whether the child born through in vitro fertilization will be taller or smarter
- Israeli researchers have developed a method that will enable the detection of thousands of genetic diseases in fetuses at the beginning of pregnancy through a blood test of the mother
