Scientists develop new method to increase IVF success rate

Scientists have developed a new method for testing the viability of human embryos before transferred to the womb, which could more than double success rate for in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

The new method was developed by researchers at Yale University in the United States, which focused on the fluid embryos grow in before they are transferred, according to the Nov. 4 issue of New Scientist available on Friday.

By selecting embryos on the basis of their metabolic profile, the researchers increased the pregnancy rate of IVF to more than 80 percent in a pilot study against only around 34 percent of IVF success rate currently in the United States, the report said.

According to the researchers, the new method could also end the high-risk multiple-birth pregnancies that are common with IVF because women often choose to have more than one embryo transferred to counteract the technique's low success rate.

To analyze an embryo's metabolism, the researchers extracted a little fluid from its nutrient bath and used spectral analysis to measure levels of free radicals, by-products of normal cell metabolism, in the fluid, and found that embryos that had a healthy metabolic rate produced more free radicals than unhealthy ones.

"We look at all the metabolic activity of an embryo, its overall health, not just one disease," Emre Seli who led the research was quoted as saying.

In a study of 108 embryos tested three days after fertilization, the researchers were able to predict with 80 to 83 percent accuracy which would implant successfully.

A larger follow-up study is now under way, according to the report.

Source: Xinhua