Time-lapse imaging of human pre-implantation embryos: a predictive tool in the IVF laboratory and IVF clinical practice?
PhD candidate:
Shabana Sayed
Principal Supervisor:
Ritsa Storeng Dr. Philos, Norwegian Research Centre for Women's Health, Oslo University Hospital
Supervisors:
Marte Myhre Reigstad MD, PhD, Norwegian Research Centre for Women's Health, Oslo University Hospital
Arne Schwennicke Dr.Med, Klinikk Hausken, Haugesund, Norway
Administrator:
Siri Vangen, MD, PhD, Leader, Norwegian Research Centre for Women's Health /Professor II, University of Oslo
Infertility affects 1 in 6 of the adult population worldwide and is deemed a universal health issue. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) aims to alleviate infertility by providing safe, efficient, and cost-effective treatment options. Clinical and laboratory-based techniques are aimed at optimising stimulation regimes, standardizing and improving procedures to achieve a successful outcome in the shortest possible time. Embryo selection remains one of the crucial steps determining success following ART treatment. With the advent of Time-Lapse Imaging (TLI) in embryo selection, embryologists have been able to detect subtle kinetic variations between developmental events in morphologically similar embryos. The majority of TLI studies utilise surrogate endpoints of success, such as blastocyst development, implantation and clinical pregnancy rates, rather than live birth rates as the main outcome variable.
The primary aim of the project is to investigate the utility of TLI in human pre-implantation embryos in predicting live birth following ART treatment. The utilisation of live birth as the primary endpoint will also aid in consolidating the role of TLI in routine laboratory practice.
The objectives of the project are to identify early pre-implantation morphological and morphokinetic biomarkers by TLI, to ascertain whether these biomarkers can be used to predict live birth following ART treatment and to develop live birth prediction models for embryo selection based on these biomarkers. It is important to assess how useful such models are in assisting clinicians with patient counselling and aiding embryologists in designing embryo selection strategies.
The project is approved by the Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK/2017/1610) and is based on transferred embryos derived from ART cycles conducted at Klinikk Hausken, Haugesund, Norway between May 2011 and August 2018.