Panamanian reproductive medicine specialists are studying embryos' first hours of life to gain insights into how they develop.
Scientists at the In Vitro Fertilisation Laboratory (FIV) of the Valenciano Infertility Institute are using computers and a camera in the EmbryoScope incubator to closely monitor embryonic development.
"This revolutionary automated evaluation method allows us to observe the evolution of an embryo second by second in the FIV from day zero until the fifth day, improving the pregnancy rate by about 20 per cent," the lab's director, Ana Palma Govea, said.
The Valenciano Infertility Institute's clinics have employed the time-lapse technique since its founding in 2009 to increase the number of pregnancies achieved via in vitro fertilisation.
The technique allows scientists to select the best embryo available for implantation to achieve pregnancy, Palma Govea said.
In addition to capturing images, the EmbryoScope uses an algorithm created by institute embryologist Dr Marcos Meseguer that estimates the speed of embryonic development and determines which embryo is best suited for implantation.
EmbryoScope is the only embryonic evaluation system in Central America, drawing women from across the region due to its effectiveness, Valenciano Infertility Institute director Dr. Roberto Epifanio said.
"This doesn't mean that the incubators used in other infertility clinics are not good, just that this system improves the development conditions and the conventional embryonic selection methods," Epifanio said.
