Embryo Technologies Management

A special issue of Reproductive Medicine (ISSN 2673-3897).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 17012

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Ovation Fertility, 361 Hospital Road, Suite 433, Newport Beach, CA, USA
Interests: gamete and embryo cryopreservation; in vitro culture; micromanipulation; quality management; comparative embryo biology; reproductive physiology

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Guest Editor
Ovation Fertility, 345 23rd Ave N., Suite 401, Nashville, TN, USA
Interests: embryo technologies; cryopreservation; micromanipulation; quality control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Progress in clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes has improved appreciably over the last decade, based in part on the efficient application of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and the practical experience of laboratorians and clinicians. Today’s reproductive biologists are challenged with managing hundreds of factors that ultimately influence the production of viable blastocysts capable of producing single and healthy term live births. Their responsibility is to institute quality control practices and assurance measures that safeguard the viability and identity of fresh and cryopreserved gametes and embryos while optimizing oocyte retrieval, fertilization, embryo culture, developmental monitoring and testing, embryo transfer, vitrification, and cryostorage procedures and policies. The overall purpose of this Issue is to assemble a collection of experimental studies, practical guidelines, clinical experiences, and commentaries or short reviews expressing improvements in the IVF laboratory.

We encourage skilled reproductive biologists, scientists, and clinicians to submit manuscripts that share their practical experiences and positive contributions that have influenced clinical outcomes or liability safeguards in the best interest of patients.

Dr. Mitchel C. Schiewe
Dr. Melanie R. Freeman
Guest Editors

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Keywords

assisted reproductive technologies

oocyte

embryo culture

blastocyst

cryopreservation

vitrification

micromanipulation

quality control

witnessing

preimplantation genetic testing

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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6 pages, 228 KiB  
Communication
Effect of Microfluidic Sperm Separation vs. Standard Sperm Washing Processes on Laboratory Outcomes and Clinical Pregnancy Rates in an Unselected Patient Population
by Chelsey A. Leisinger, Glen Adaniya, Melanie R. Freeman, Erica J. Behnke, Martha Aguirre, Matthew D. VerMilyea and Mitchel C. Schiewe
Reprod. Med. 2021, 2(3), 125-130; https://doi.org/10.3390/reprodmed2030013 - 26 Jul 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 6171
Abstract
A prospective, multicenter, randomized, sibling oocyte study was conducted with 86 couples to evaluate if a microfluidic sperm separation device improved ICSI sperm selection and subsequent cycle outcomes of fertilization, blastocyst utilization, ploidy, and clinical pregnancy rate when applied to a general patient [...] Read more.
A prospective, multicenter, randomized, sibling oocyte study was conducted with 86 couples to evaluate if a microfluidic sperm separation device improved ICSI sperm selection and subsequent cycle outcomes of fertilization, blastocyst utilization, ploidy, and clinical pregnancy rate when applied to a general patient population. Patients with at least 10 metaphase II oocytes were enrolled in the study and sibling oocyte groups were split in half. One half of the oocytes underwent ICSI with the control processed sperm and the other half were injected with sperm sorted by the ZyMōt microfluidic sperm separation device. Fertilization rate was recorded and resulting blastocysts were biopsied and evaluated for ploidy status with NGS. Euploid, non-mosaic embryos were randomly selected for single embryo transfer. A total of 787 oocytes were evaluated in the ZyMōt group and 777 in the control group. No statistical differences were observed between ZyMōt and control processing methods in any of the study outcomes evaluated. It is possible that the selection of normal, progressive sperm for ICSI, and the repair capacity of oocytes are sufficient to promote normal embryonic development in the general infertility population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embryo Technologies Management)

Review

Jump to: Research

9 pages, 235 KiB  
Review
The Technological Advances in Embryo Selection and Genetic Testing: A Look Back at the Evolution of Aneuploidy Screening and the Prospects of Non-Invasive PGT
by Channing Burks, Kristin Van Heertum and Rachel Weinerman
Reprod. Med. 2021, 2(1), 26-34; https://doi.org/10.3390/reprodmed2010004 - 10 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4104
Abstract
Since the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, researchers and clinicians have sought ways to improve pregnancy outcomes through embryo selection. In the 1990s, blastomere biopsy and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were developed in human embryos for the [...] Read more.
Since the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978, researchers and clinicians have sought ways to improve pregnancy outcomes through embryo selection. In the 1990s, blastomere biopsy and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were developed in human embryos for the assessment of aneuploidy and translocations. Limitations in the number of chromosomes that could be assayed with FISH lead to the development of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH); however, pregnancy rates overall were not improved. The later development of trophectoderm biopsy with comprehensive chromosome screening (CCS) technologies, as well as the subsequent development of next-generation sequencing (NGS), have shown much greater promise in improving pregnancy and live birth rates. Recently, many studies are focusing on the utilization of non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing (niPGT) in an effort to assess embryo ploidy without exposing embryos to additional interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embryo Technologies Management)
16 pages, 2639 KiB  
Review
The Evolution of the Cryopreservation Techniques in Reproductive Medicine—Exploring the Character of the Vitrified State Intra- and Extracellularly to Better Understand Cell Survival after Cryopreservation
by Pierre Vanderzwalmen, Fabien Ectors, Yannis Panagiotidis, Maximilian Schuff, Maximilian Murtinger and Barbara Wirleitner
Reprod. Med. 2020, 1(2), 142-157; https://doi.org/10.3390/reprodmed1020011 - 17 Sep 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5898
Abstract
Nowadays, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos is a fundamental, integral, and indispensable part of infertility treatment or fertility preservation. Cryopreservation is not only needed for the policy of single embryo transfer and cryopreservation of surplus embryos, but for deferring embryo transfer in the [...] Read more.
Nowadays, cryopreservation of gametes and embryos is a fundamental, integral, and indispensable part of infertility treatment or fertility preservation. Cryopreservation is not only needed for the policy of single embryo transfer and cryopreservation of surplus embryos, but for deferring embryo transfer in the case of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, uterine pathologies, and suboptimal endometrium built-up or when preimplantation genetic testing is needed. Several current strategies in assisted reproduction technology (ART) would be inconceivable without highly efficient cryopreservation protocols. Nevertheless, cryopreservation hampered for a long time, especially in terms of low survival rates after freezing and thawing. Only the technical progress during the last decades, namely, in regard to the implementation and advancement of vitrification, leveraged its application, and thus, even allows the cryopreservation of human oocytes—a process that is far from being easy. This review aims to provide a deeper insight into the physical processes of cryopreservation and to explore the character of the vitrified state in the extra and intracellular milieu in order to demonstrate that the common denominator to all cryopreservation procedures is the establishment of an intracellular amorphous condition that hinders the likelihood of crystallization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Embryo Technologies Management)
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