Enhancing IVF Success with Holograms

In a world-first, 3D holographic images of an embryo have been developed as part of a collaborative research project between the University of Adelaide and the University of St Andrews. The images are created using minuscule amounts of light in a fraction of a second.

The team developed an approach to create 3D holographic images of the pre-clinical model of an embryo at various stages of development. A non-invasive approach without biopsy to help pick the most appropriate embryo is a highly beneficial tool for the 21st-century embryologist: light can fulfill this need.

3D holographic images are a non-invasive approach that provides insights into the embryo by identifying detailed features. This may augment conventional visual assessment for embryo quality in an IVF clinic, allowing an embryologist to make an informed decision on the selection of best-quality embryos.

Data from 2020 show that the success rates of IVF range from a live birth rate of 38.9 percent per embryo transfer for patients under 34 years to a live birth rate of 5.6 percent per embryo transfer for patients over 43 years. In 2018 it was estimated that eight million babies had been born through IVF since the world’s first in 1978.

The team aims to have the technology, which is being developed through research using a preclinical model, available in five years.

Reference: Investigation of refractive index dynamics during in vitro embryo development using off-axis digital holographic microscopy, Biomedical Optics Express, DOI 10.1364/BOE.492292