Doctors and researchers are always looking for ways to improve the process of in vitro fertilization. Doing so increases the success rate of the procedure which means that patients are more satisfied with the results of going through treatment for infertility. One new advance may have been made in this area recently. It's being called "lab on a chip" and is a new method of determining the fitness of embryos for transplant during IVF.
"The scientists describe development of a so-called microfluidic chip, about the size of a quarter. It is intended to automatically analyze the health of embryos intended for transplant by measuring how the embryo alters key nutrients in the tissue culture medium used to nurture embryos." (source)
Doctors do currently test the fitness of embryos to make sure that the ones that are transplanted during the IVF procedure are the ones that are most likely to lead to successful conception. However this new method is believed to be one that could be more effective and more efficient therefore improving the success rates of IVF as well as the patient's experience when undergoing this common fertility treatment.
Question of the Day: Will "lab on a chip" fitness testing become common for embryos transplanted in IVF procedures?
