Anxious parents-to-be undergoing fertility treatment will soon be able to watch their IVF embryos grow in the lab, using an Australian-first smartphone app.
IVF patients will get the very first glimpse of their future offspring, via photos and videos taken of their embryos over the five days they spend growing in the lab.
Seeing is believing
Created by Australian fertility group Genea, the Grow app will be available through its clinics nationwide, and the Hollywood Fertility Centre in Western Australia.
“After being highly involved in the early part of an IVF cycle with blood tests and ultrasounds, patients can feel a little detached once their eggs and sperm are collected and developing as embryos for five days in the lab,” explains Genea Medical Director Associate Professor Mark Bowman.
“Giving them access to photos and videos of their developing embryos through the Grow by Genea app will help them feel more connected and involved in the process.”
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The clinic says its in-house designed Geri incubators capture time-lapse footage as each embryo develops in the labs. It means patients will have access to photos and time-lapse video on days one, three, five and six of development.
World-first IVF system
The world-first incubation and embryo viewing system is designed to be the optimal environment to grow IVF embryos outside of the womb.
“Each Geri has six individual chambers so each patient’s embryos have their own personalised space. Each of those six chambers has its own camera, working continuously to capture every incremental development of the embryos,” says Genea Scientific Director Steven McArthur.
The system is being trialled but is expected to be available free to all Genea and Hollywood Fertility Centre patients undergoing an IVF or ICSI cycle, from mid-May 2017.
Technology is an amazing thing when it comes to birth and pregnancy. Take another look at our post about the Aussie woman who became a mum at 62 thanks to IVF treatment.
