Non-invasive methods of predicting IVF outcome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The efficacy of prediction of live birth following IVF: A prospective cohort study comparison of different non-invasive methods including patient demographics, health factors, embryo morphological assessment, time-lapse assessment, image recognition tools and non-invasive genetic testing of spent media.
IRAS ID
296571
Contact name
Xavier Vinals
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aria Fertility
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 16 days
Research summary
The efficacy of prediction of whether an IVF treatment will lead to live birth is critical to make clinical decisions during IVF.
At the embryo level, chance of live birth of individual embryos may be assessed by invasively removing a small amount of cells that can be used for genetic analysis. As such, biopsy is seen as an invasive method of embryo selection.
Non-invasive methods of embryo assessment include morphology (looking at the embryo, morphokinetics (looking at images of the embryos over time), artificial intelligence (using algorithms to process complex information derived from the embryo), and non-invasive genetic testing. When embryos are in culture, some of the genetic markers from the cells are released into the fluid the embryo is in. This fluid can be tested to rank the embryos according to chance of being genetically normal. This is a novel way of assessing embryos, and, although several studies have promising results regarding this technology, we are still assessing the efficacy of this method.
Health factors, such as sleep quality, have been shown to be related to fertility hormone levels, egg and sperm quality.This is a pilot prospective cohort study, where embryos from 100 patients will be assessed using current non-invasive methods (morphology, morphokinetics, artificial intelligence and genetic marker secretions in the media). Moreover, this study aims to assess the implications of sleep on embryo quality and clinical outcome in an IVF setting.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0085
Date of REC Opinion
25 May 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion