varoblog

Early pregnancy loss (EPL) significantly reduces the initial success rate of assisted reproduction treatments and increases the psychological burden on the patient. The aim of the current study was to investigate the association between embryo quality and EPL in IVF. A retrospective study of 1471 women undergoing IVF between July 2000 and October 2004 was performed. Multivariate logistic regression models evaluated the effect on EPL of the woman’s age, type and cause of infertility, endometrial thickness on the day of oocyte retrieval, performance of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, number of transferred embryos, embryo quality as assessed by the number of blastomeres in the leading transferred embryo at day 3, and the percentage of fragmentation. more…

From: »rbmonline«

Observing the microscopic mysteries of embryos, cells, and chromosomesis feasible with advanced live imaging technologies. In space and time, researchers can follow thefates of embryos, track migrating cells, and watch howmolecules signal and interact with each other—all in theirnative environments. The current issue of CSH Protocols, released online today – includesbiomedical research techniques that incorporate this ‘cellularcinematography’ and – for the first time – adds multimediacontent in the form of movie clips. more…

From: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory / »Brightsurf«

By Katie Gazella
Medical School Communications

Technology that more closely mirrors the natural fertilization process is showing promise as a new method of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), U-M Health System researchers have found.

The researchers discovered that microfluidics—an emerging area of physics and biotechnology that deals with the microscopic flow of fluids—can be used successfully for IVF in mice. They also found that lower total numbers and concentrations of sperm were required when using microfluidic channels instead of culture dishes. more…

From »The University Record Online«