World’s first baby born of IVF performed almost exclusively by a machine

A very automated form of in vitro -fertilization (IVF) has led to a successful birth, Raison hopes that this is approaching that there is a risk of human errors that draw such procedures.

One method of IVF is intracytoplasmic semen injection (ICSI), where sperm is injected into eggs in a lab bowl. This is often used in boxes of male infertility as the semen does not have to work to reach an egg. Any resulting embryos are inserted into the uterus. IVF can also be performed by mixing semen and eggs in a lab bowl in the hope that fertilization will take place, which is generally less successful but also requires less medical intervention.

ICSI also has disadvantages as it binds at high levels of precision and judgment from medical professionals. “They sometimes get tired and distracted, just like everyone else in most professions, so errors occur that can reduce [the] Odds of fertilization and birth, “says Jacques Cohen by imaginable life sciences, a biotech company in New York City.

To tackle this, Cohen and his colleagues have developed a machine that can perform 23 key steps required for ICSI. Each of them is initiated by a person through the touch of a button when they see a livestream of the process. This may even be from another part of the world.

In one step, the machine uses an AI model to choose the healthiest sperm for fertilization, based on their appearance. In another, the machine immobilizes the semen by zapping their tails with a laser so they are easier to pick up. It later injects the sperm in already collected eggs. A similar approach has been tested before, resulting in two live births, but some steps were not performed by a machine.

To put their machine to the test, the researchers recruited a couple who struggled to get pregnant and partly because the man had sperm that couldn’t swim properly. The woman also had trouble producing eggs, so the donor was used for the procedure.

The researchers randomly awarded five out of eight donor eggs to be fertilized by the automated system that produced four embryos. The three remaining eggs were fertilized using standard manual ICSI approach, all of which shaped embryos.

They are used an AI model to choose the two best embryos, based on the appearance of their chromosomes. Both of these were produced using the automated system, but it does not require this approach to healthier embryos than manual ICSI, says Cohen. We can’t measure this because of the small number of eggs involved, he says.

As the team deployed one of the embryos into the woman’s uterus, they failed to develop, but the other led to a successful birth.

It’s an exciting proof-of-concept, says Joyce Harper at University College London. But larger studies randomly assign pairs to undergo either the automated or the manual LCSI procedure are needed to establish the WHHET form approach leads to higher birth rates, she says.

Automated IVF is also unlikely that it is widely used, because it is an extra expense, at least when he is originally rolled out, says Harper. But Cohen hopes this would get better over time. “When we optimize, standardize and refine the system, we expect the cost of the patient and the clinic to fall,” he says.