Thanks to the power of artificial intelligence – and a bit of global teamwork – we may soon see a stark rise in the success of IFV (In Vitro Fertilisation) procedures.
IVF procedures – which involve combining an egg with sperm outside of the body – are designed to help the 200 million people with fertility issues. But currently, only a fraction of those affected opt for the procedure.
To make matters worse, IVF only has about a 40% success rate. But now, two organizations are working together to change that.
Introducing Life Whisperer: The AI-Powered Embryologist
American IVF research laboratory Ovation Fertility has teamed up with South Australian company Life Whisperer to create an AI tool that predicts the chances of success in IVF procedures.
The tool, called Life Whisperer, allows doctors to “drag and drop” an image of their patient’s embryos. The system then combines artificial intelligence with a database of 20,000 globally sourced 2D embryo images to create an instant report.
The report helps the doctor choose which embryo has the highest chance of success – which they then implant into the patient.
This will prove to be highly useful in pre-screening for embryos, says Life Whisperer – who is responsible for overseeing the product’s release in the US.
“To PGT Or Not To PGT?”
Of course, this new tool is not the only help we have in predicting IVF success. Patients can already request something called pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT).
In PGT, a small number of cells are taken from each embryo and sent to a lab for analysis. This screening detects chromosome abnormalities, allowing the doctor to select only embryos with normal chromosomes.
This certainly increases IVF success – but the problem is that PGT can be seen as invasive, and it’s expensive. Life Whisperer can be used either alone or in addition to PGT. However, there’s a more important benefit.
Affordable IVF Assistance For All
Life Whisperer technology is cloud-based and designed to remain highly affordable for patients. Clinics do not have to worry about set-up costs or ongoing fees, as there’s no hardware to install.
According to Life Whisperer, “Our clinical studies with leading fertility clinics demonstrate a marked improvement beyond traditional manual methods alone.”
This is an exciting development, and we’re excited to see it – and its eventual competitors – create new ways to improve certainty in healthcare. We may never be able to reach perfection, but that simply means we can always improve. Here’s to more teamwork across countries – and between humans and AI!
You can learn more about Life Whisperer in the video below or on their official website.
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