24-hour Monitoring and Alarm System
All incubators and frozen embryo storage facilities in the Centre are equipped with 24-hour monitoring and alarm systems. The operation and condition of the facilities can hence be monitored and recorded around-the-clock, generating detailed data for quality control. In case of any abnormal circumstance such as temperature change, the laboratory technicians can be alerted and take prompt actions to minimise any harm to the embryos.
EmbryoScope
An incubator with a built-in camera for automated time-lapse imaging of fertilised oocytes in a safe incubation environment from fertilisation until the time of transfer.
Tri-gas Incubator
According to scientific literature records, low-oxygen environment (5%) is found more favourable to the growth and development of in-vitro fertilised embryos when compared with the one with normal oxygen level (21%). The tri-gas incubators in the Centre can provide a low-oxygen incubation environment, facilitating a better growth of embryos.
Assisted Hatching (AH)
Assisted hatching is a laboratory procedure designed to increase the chance of implantation or embryo attachment to the wall of the womb. For a successful implantation, the embryo must “hatch” out of the zona pellucida (the outer shell of embryo). In some patients, the failure of getting pregnancy after embryo replacement may be related to the inability of embryos to "hatch" out of the zona pellucida. Assisted hatching uses laser to cut a tiny opening at a diameter of 10-15 microns on the zona pellucida without touching embryos.
Research has shown that in patients over 38 years of age and those with repeated failures, AH improves implantation and pregnancy rates.
Blastocyst Transfer
By allowing the embryos to be cultured to the stage of blastocysts in vitro, our embryologists are in a better position to select embryos of higher quality for transfer, so that it is more likely for healthy babies to be developed. Only the best embryos can proceed to the blastocyst stage.
Another advantage that blastocyst transfer has versus Day 3 transfer is the lower risk of potential multiple pregnancies since a smaller number of embryos of higher grade may be transferred for an equivalent pregnancy rate. Supernumerary blastocysts after embryo transfer may also be stored for later use by means of a new technique called vitrification.
In Vitro Maturation of Oocytes (IVM)
IVM is a revolutionary procedure, which is especially suitable for patients with polycystic ovaries (PCO). IVM also applies to patients with a natural cycle of IVF.
The difference between IVM and IVF is that, for IVM, immature eggs are retrieved and matured in vitro and then fertilised, while for IVF, already mature or almost mature eggs are retrieved for fertilisation. Apart from monitoring the follicular growth prior to retrieval, no or minimal stimulation drug is needed in IVM cycle.
As no / minimal stimulating drugs are involved, patients will not suffer from ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and treatment costs will be lower as compared to conventional IVF treatment. Patients with polycystic ovaries have a high risk of OHSS development when being subjected to ovarian drug stimulation.
The way of extracting eggs and replacing embryos in IVM process is just the same as that in IVF.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
The conventional IVF requires a critical number of motile sperm to achieve fertilisation. When the normal sperm number required is not enough for IVF, our embryologists can inject a single sperm into an egg cytoplasm, i.e. intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
Sperms can be extracted for ICSI procedure from the testis or its appendages (vas or epididymis) of male patients with few or no sperm in their ejaculate (azoospermia). The technical terms for these procedures are testicular sperm extraction (TESE) or microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA). After achieving fertilisation the procedure of embryo transfer is the same as IVF.
Ultrarapid Vitrification
Good quality unused embryos can be frozen and storage for future use. The ultrarapid vitrification helps preserve embryo quality and increase the embryo survival after thawing, particularly suitable for blastocyst stage embryos.
This advanced technique minimises the incidence of harmful intracellular ice crystal formation, which is a significant problem with traditional slow-cooling methods when applied to blastocyst cold storage.
Due to its high efficiency, ultrarapid vitrification is the embryo cold storage of choice for the patient to complement our successful blastocyst culture program.