Research is one of the pillars that supports IVI’s success and leadership in the field of reproductive medicine. During these days we have been present at the 78th Congress of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), with numerous investigations. But there are three works that we want to detail in greater depth.
Artificial Intelligence for sperm selection
Our day to day life shows how infertility focuses mainly on the female factor. But the reality, and this is shown by the data, is that infertility is also a men’s thing. To treat all cases, we work every day to bring the latest advances to our clinics and offer our patients the best results.
In order to learn more about male infertility, one of the studies that we want to detail today was born, presented at the ASRM edition that this year was held in California.
“After the analysis of an intensive research work, we have created a new tool that is committed to the non-invasive analysis of sperm, through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This allows us to differentiate some spermatozoa from others and thus define the individual biochemical profile of each one of them, being able to know, without having to alter the spermatozoa to analyze it, which ones are the most suitable to achieve reproductive success”, explains the Doctor Nicholas Garridodirector of the IVI Foundation. In addition, Dr. Garrido is the supervisor of this study, which is entitled ‘Hyperspectral imaging of single spermatozoa as a promising non-destructive objective tool for sperm selection prior to ICSI – determination of reproducibility and specificity’.
And it is that current research regarding male infertility is limited, so greater knowledge is needed about the factors that influence it, as well as the improvement of its diagnosis and treatment. Any research that digs into this will shed light and ultimately help in the reproductive success of patients.
“Until now, the biochemical information of spermatozoa had only been studied using invasive techniques. Thanks to this work we are able to safely associate a unique and unequivocal DNI to the sperm and recognize it among other sperm. To do this, we first had to be able to verify that what we measure is reproducible, particular and characteristic of a specific sperm and not another, within the same semen sample. And now that we know how to do it and differentiate some sperm from others, we can study the results of the sperm that we microinject based on their characteristics. We will be able to know which ones reach the blastocyst, the live newborn… and thus select the ones that present a more adequate profile, ultimately improving the results of the treatments”comments Dr. Garrido.
Artificial Intelligence to analyze if devitrified embryos will give rise to a baby
At IVI we are world pioneers in the application of Artificial Intelligence in embryo selection. In this sense, it is worth highlighting another of the studies presented at the aforementioned congress. The work is entitled ‘Application of Artificial Intelligence on vitrified/warmed embryos: prediction of live birth from post-warmed blastocyst dynamics’. This goes one step further in terms of results achieved, compared to those achieved so far. Thus, this tool allows us to predict the capacity that a devitrified embryo will have to give rise to a baby.
“We have been advancing for 5 years in the study and application of Artificial Intelligence to embryo selection. During this time we have achieved hopeful results, which help us to fulfill the wishes of our patients in the shortest time and with the greatest guarantees. The present work goes a little further, allowing us to verify how the analysis of embryonic development by Artificial Intelligence after the devitrification of the embryos can be indicative of the potential of these embryos to give rise to a live newborn “comments the Doctor Marcos Meseguerembryologist, scientific supervisor of IVI Valencia and coordinator of said study.
Dr. Meseguer adds: “This is something that has never been done to date and in which we are pioneers. And it is that, instead of introducing the embryo in a conventional incubator to wait for the moment of transferring it to the maternal uterus after devitrification, as is usually done, we have placed it in the Embryoscope cinematographic incubator. In this way, we have been able to obtain a film of embryonic development that shows us how the embryo varies in appearance during the 4 hours it remains in the incubator. And so, we have found that, depending on the behavior of the embryo when it thaws, we can know its chances of implantation, through an AI algorithm that allows us to evaluate its development during this time prior to its transfer “adds Dr. Meseguer.
The aforementioned translates into an improvement in the diagnosis, increasing the precision in the degree of certainty to confirm the possibility of implantation of each embryo.
Epigenetics: dialogue between the mother and the embryo
As far as treatments with donated eggs are concerned, there are many barriers, especially emotional ones, that appear among patients. There are many doubts, fears or rejections that we see every day in consultation. To provide answers, there are various lines of research developed by IVI in recent times. These provide peace of mind for these patients, evidencing the ‘dialogue’ that occurs between the embryo and its mother, the one who gestates it.
“Epigenetics comes to show that the uterine environment greatly influences the early stages of embryonic development, necessary for proper implantation to occur and a full-term pregnancy to be carried out”point the Doctor Hortensia Ferreroresearcher at the IVI Foundation.
This was the starting signal for the work ‘Human blastocysts uptake extracellular vesicles secreted by primary endometrial epithelial cells containing miRNAs related to implantation and early embryo development’. This work has also been presented at the recently closed edition of the ASRM and has received the ‘Endometriosis SIG Prize Paper – Best in Basic Science’ award.
“This study was born with a clear objective: to demonstrate that the maternal endometrium communicates with the embryo before it is implanted and that this communication is involved in processes that participate in the receptivity of the endometrium and embryonic development, which are necessary for it to occur. a successful implantation. Thus, our data suggest that the maternal endometrium secretes vesicles containing microregulators of gene expression (miRNA) that are internalized by the embryo and modulate the biological processes involved in its implantation and early development. These miRNAs could be indicators of implantation, even being useful to improve the success rates of reproductive treatments”concludes Dr. Ferrero, principal investigator of the study.
