Assessing efficacy of day 3 embryo time-lapse algorithms retrospectively: impacts of dataset type and confounding factors.

This study investigated the efficacy of four published day 3 embryo time-lapse algorithms based on different types of datasets (known implantation data [KID] and single embryo transfer [SET]), and the confounding effect of female age and conventional embryo morphology. Four algorithms were retrospectively applied to three types of datasets generated at Fertility North between February 2013 and December 2014: (a) KID dataset ( = 270), (b) a subset of SET ( = 144, end-point = implantation), and (c) SET ( = 144, end-point = live birth), respectively. All four algorithms showed progressively reduced predictive power (expressed as area under the receiver operating characteristics curve and 95% confidence interval [CI]) after application to the three datasets (a-c): Liu (0.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection using hyaluronic acid or polyvinylpyrrolidone: a time-lapse sibling oocyte study.

This study evaluated the effect of sperm selection and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) on subsequent fertilization and embryo development using the hyaluronic acid-based SpermSlow™ (HA-ICSI) compared to injection with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP-ICSI). A total of 206 metaphase II oocytes were collected from 21 prospectively enrolled ICSI cycles at Fertility North between July 2014 and March 2015. Sibling oocytes were randomized into HA-ICSI and PVP-ICSI (n = 103 per group).

Assessment of human embryos by time-lapse videography: A comparison of quantitative and qualitative measures between two independent laboratories.

A total of 488 Day 3 human embryos with known implantation data from two independent in vitro fertilization laboratories were included for analysis, with 270 from Fertility North (FN) and 218 from Canberra Fertility Centre (CFC). Implanting embryos grew at different rates between FN and CFC as indicated in hours of the time intervals between pronuclear fading and the 4- (13.9 ± 1.

Time-lapse deselection model for human day 3 in vitro fertilization embryos: the combination of qualitative and quantitative measures of embryo growth.

Objective: To present a time-lapse deselection model involving both qualitative and quantitative parameters for assessing embryos on day 3.

Design: Retrospective cohort study and prospective validation.

Setting: Private IVF center.

Time-lapse videography of human embryos: Using pronuclear fading rather than insemination in IVF and ICSI cycles removes inconsistencies in time to reach early cleavage milestones.

Time-lapse videography showed that human early cleavage embryos were quicker following intracytoplasmic sperm injection to reach developmental milestones compared to in vitro fertilization when using insemination as the timing start point (t0), due to differences in the time taken for embryos to reach pronuclear fading (PNF). These differences disappeared when PNF was used as t0. Using a biological rather than procedural t0 will allow a unified assessment strategy to be applied to all cycles irrespective of the insemination method.

Clinical significance of intercellular contact at the four-cell stage of human embryos, and the use of abnormal cleavage patterns to identify embryos with low implantation potential: a time-lapse study.

Objective: To investigate the clinical significance of intercellular contact point (ICCP) in four-cell stage human embryos and the effectiveness of morphology and abnormal cleavage patterns in identifying embryos with low implantation potential.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Private IVF center.

Can 'abnormally' fertilized zygotes give rise to viable embryos?

Conventional practice in in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection is to select the best quality embryos based on their morphology and cleavage status from a cohort of fertilized oocytes in which two pronuclei were observed at the time they were checked for fertilization. However, in a small proportion of cycles, the selection is limited to embryos that appeared to be either unfertilized (displaying zero pronuclei) or abnormally fertilized (displaying one or three pronuclei) at the time they were checked for fertilization. There is a lack of consensus on whether such embryos should be transferred to the uterus.