A REVOLUTIONARY new embryo incubator at Liverpool Women's Hospital could increase chances of success for IVF couples.
The Hewitt Centre for Reproductive Medicine has introduced an advanced instrument called an EmbryoScope Time lapse System which observes patient embryos after IVF is carried out.
Until now, monitoring an embryo’s development has involved removing plastic dishes in which they grow from an incubator in order to examine their progress which can be damaging.
The new computerised EmbyroScope incubator offers continuous “live” surveillance of embryos in a safe undisturbed environment where they don’t have to be removed for examination.
Dr Steve Troup, Scientific Director of the Hewitt Centre, believes the EmbryoScope may be one of the most exciting technical advances he has seen in his career: “With the EmbryoScope, we have constant surveillance for as long as we like without moving [the embryos] from their stable, controlled environment.”
