Artificial Intelligence and IVF
How to ensure a successful pregnancy?
An increasing amount of couples have to deal with fertility issues in our times, thus creating the need for the science of clinical embryology to find reliable and effective solutions.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) has given the chance to millions of infertile couples to become parents and welcome their new family member.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has advanced to the point where it can offer substantial assistance to the IVF procedure and therefore bring the potential parents a step closer to their dream of having a child.
Artificial Intelligence: Higher percentages for a successful pregnancy
Accomplishing a successful pregnancy depends on many different factors. One of the most important factors in IVF, which determines the outcome to a great extent, is the selection of the most “suitable” embryo. This is necessary if we want to achieve the birth of a healthy baby with no complications.
Read more about the success rates of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and Intrauterine insemination (IUI), in this article.
In our current stage, the new Artificial Intelligence system is being included in the available clinical practices and adopted by modern embryology.
Artificial Intelligence and IVF:
New technology aims to help the embryologists to be more effective in the selection and assessment of the embryo. The chosen embryo will then be transferred to the woman’s uterus where it will develop.
It’s a method that upgrades scientific knowledge. It also focuses on each couple individually, improving the embryo selection process and achieving rates of implantation as high as 92.5% from the first embryo transfer.
In modern embryology, the selection of embryos intended for implantation during IVF, has always been a crucial scientific challenge.
Today, with the use of algorithms of AI technology, IVF has acquired a “prognosis mechanism”. This mechanism, under the guidance of the embryologist, can determine the potential and the quality of the embryo in IVF cycles. It has the ability to detect and select the most sustainable embryos that will be transferred to the uterus of the mother-to-be.
Artificial Intelligence and IVF: Modern technology becomes a valuable “tool” in the hands of the embryologist.
These new tools, combined with the embryologist’s skills and knowledge, can create a huge improvement potential, regarding decision making in the field of assisted reproduction. With the help of Artificial Intelligence, the embryologist can, amongst other things, examine the condition and the quality of the embryos and select the ones that will be more effective, vastly increasing the chances for a successful implantation.
How is Artificial Intelligence utilized in IVF?
Until recently, clinical embryologists would rely solely on their personal experience and on certain specialized analyzing tools. They would classify the embryo samples based on morphology and motility. On each occasion, one or two of the embryos would be selected for embryo transfer and implantation in the woman’s uterus. This selection, however, was not based on a subjective evaluation of the sustainability of the embryos.
With the use of Artificial Intelligence, this whole procedure is upgraded. A statistical analysis is carried out to study various characteristics of the embryo that would otherwise be undetectable. This creates the ability to associate embryo morphology with the chances of achieving a successful pregnancy. So, the fertility experts can now select the most suitable embryo much more effectively.
Basically, a smart algorithm is applied in order to “filter” the embryos according to their potential. This is achieved with the use of statistical methods by analyzing a series of images and data related to the embryo development, under strictly controlled conditions and not by relying on the objective opinion of a clinical embryologist.
The “prognosis software” of AI in the IVF procedure creates a prioritization based on embryo potential and so allows the embryologist to implant the embryo in the woman’s endometrium while at the same time evaluating its chances. This software arranges the embryos depending on their chances for successful implantation from the most to the least likely. The greater the chances for a successful implantation, the greater the possibility for a successful pregnancy.
How effective is the use of Artificial Intelligence in IVF?
The use of new technology creates new potential in the field of assisted reproduction. As a result, the future of IVF is altered and the chances for a successful pregnancy, greatly increased.
- It achieves the selection of the most suitable embryo for implantation with a success rate almost as high as 92.5%.
- It drastically increases the chances for a successful pregnancy from the very first embryo transfer (Read more about embryo transfer in this article).
- It deals with and reinforces even the most difficult cases of assisted reproduction.
- It basically removes the subjective factor in the procedure of selecting the most suitable embryo and replaces it with objective criteria.
- It keeps the parents much better informed about the development of the embryo.
With the contribution of Artificial Intelligence, the IVF procedure has acquired new precision tools and allies in order to support with credibility and security, the journey of potential parents who want to create a new family
Modern research is trying to discover ways to recognize chromosomal anomalies and other genetic disorders in embryos without the need for a biopsy or other similar examinations. The only requirements are Artificial Intelligence and ingenuity.
Artificial Intelligence in IVF is the most promising method that offers technological support in the field of Modern Embryology.
Read more about the mew methods and practices used in modern embryology and in IVF in this article.
Written by Dimitris Papadopoulos, Clinical Embryologist, REA
Artificial Intelligence and IVF
