EmbryoScope

• The EmbryoScope

  In the past embryologists had to remove embryos from the incubator to perform brief evaluations of their development. The evaluation time allowed was therefore limited to avoid stress to the embryo.

  EmbryoScopes allow the team to monitor embryos through the full course of their development. The specially designed EmbryoScope incubator (with a built-in camera and microscope) takes an image of embryos every 10 minutes. As a result, time-lapse videos of individual embryos are generated over 3-5 days.

  During the entire 3-5 days embryos remain in the EmbryoScope and stay undisturbed in their stable culture environment. By watching when and how the embryos divide, the clinic’s embryology team can assess if development is taking place normally.

  Success rates

  A prospective randomized control trial compared culture and selection using the EmbryoScope time-lapse system to traditional culture and evaluation. The trial documented a relative increase in ongoing pregnancy rate of 23% while early pregnancy loss was reduced by 36%.

  Glasgow Royal Fertility Clinic is committed to ensuring every patient benefits from the EmbryoScope.

1. What is the EmbryoScope time-lapse system?

   The EmbryoScope is an IVF incubator with a built-in camera developed to improve IVF treatments. The instrument is the result of more than 9 years of research and the benefits of it have being led to it being adopted across the globe.

2. How does it work?

   Images of individual embryos are automatically recorded at preset time intervals. These images are compiled using specialised software to create a time-lapse sequence of embryo development. Detailed information about timing of cell divisions, intervals between cell cycles and other important events including multinucleation, evenness of blastomeres and dynamic pronuclei patterns are annotated for analysis. This information is used by the embryologists to select the embryo that can be most likely to result in a pregnancy for transfer in an IVF treatment. Images are acquired without removing embryos from the incubator, and therefore manual handling of embryos outside the stable incubation conditions is minimised, leaving the embryos undisturbed at optimal growth conditions. Images and detailed information about incubation conditions are stored in patient data files for future reference.

3. How many clinics use the EmbryoScope time-lapse system?

   The system has been widely adopted worldwide with more than 370 clinics using this technology.

4. How many Embryoscopes do you have?

   We are committed to ensuring that every patient benefits from the Embryoscope so we have six.

5. How many patients can be treated in the EmbryoScope time-lapse incubator?

   The EmbryoScope incubator can hold six EmbryoSlide culture dishes with embryos from up to six different patients. Each EmbryoSlide culture dish can accommodate up to 12 embryos; consequently the EmbryoScope incubator can acquire time-lapse images of up to 72 embryos. Each EmbryoScope time-lapse system has a capacity of 300 – 400 IVF treatment cycles per year per EmbryoScope instrument, depending on the duration of culture. As we have six EmbryoScopes every patient will benefit from this technology.

6. Will using the EmbryoScope cost me more?

   No, the EmbryoScope is now our standard way of incubating embryos and so we do not charge extra for it.

Fees

Our full price list can be found here for download. Should you have any questions about the fees, please contact us on 0141 956 0509 and speak to a member of staff.