Conventional incubator vs. Time-Lapse incubator

One of the most important aspects of assisted reproduction treatments is the selection of embryos for transfer.

It is not enough to simply choose the best fertility treatment for each case. Fertility units and centres must be able to correctly select the embryos that are most likely to implant. This will be a determining factor in the chances of success of the cycle.

How do we select embryos with a conventional incubator?

Until relatively recently, the only method of embryo classification was to evaluate the morphological characteristics of the embryos under an inverted microscope.

What does this mean? It involves analysing some of the morphological parameters of the embryos: cell size and symmetry, number of cells, cell division rate, percentage of cell fragmentation, etc., which correlate positively with pregnancy and implantation rates, as a method of predicting embryo viability.

To make these assessments, it is necessary to remove the embryos from the incubator daily and place them under the microscope to record all these parameters for each embryo. In this way, we can give them a final classification.

What happens when we remove the embryos from the conventional incubator to evaluate them?

When outside the incubator, embryos are exposed to temperature variations and other agents, which can compromise their viability.

Furthermore, this method has certain limitations, as embryos are only evaluated at specific stages of development. This leads to a loss of essential information about many stages of embryonic development.

How do time-lapse incubators help us?

Against this backdrop, in recent years, the big difference in embryo culture in in vitro fertilisation laboratories has been marked by the emergence of incubators with time-lapse technology, such as the Embryoscope we use at URE Centro Gutenberg.

Thanks to this technology, it is possible to monitor the entire embryonic development without removing the embryos from the incubator and, therefore, without altering their ideal culture conditions. In addition, these incubators reveal new parameters related to the reproductive capacity of the embryo.

Time-lapse incubators allow us to observe the development of embryos from the moment of fertilisation until transfer to the woman’s uterus. This is done using an image capture system (every 15-20 minutes) of all the embryos inside the incubator itself.

This system provides us with a wealth of information on embryonic development, allowing us to optimise the selection of embryos to be transferred and/or frozen. In addition, we can study the speed of embryonic development, which, together with morphological parameters, allows us to optimise the selection of the best embryos.

Embryos that meet certain cell division times and optimal morphology may, in certain cases, have a 10-15% higher chance of successful implantation.

Which patients can benefit from Time-Lapse incubators?

Time-Lapse incubators can be used in all types of patients undergoing In Vitro Fertilisation treatment. However, it currently appears that the chances of improved results are greater in patients who have a high number of embryos. In these cases, we can select and compare a larger number of embryos in order to transfer and/or freeze the best ones, especially if the mother is over 37 years of age.

According to the latest scientific publications, patients with previous IVF failures may also benefit from time-lapse incubators. Another group would be patients who, for various reasons (health, finances, family planning, etc.), wish to transfer a single embryo, minimising the risk of a twin pregnancy. The more information we have about the embryos, the more objectively we can select the one with the best chances.

As you can see, the advantages of time-lapse incubators, such as the Embryoscope we use at URE Centro Gutenberg, make these devices the future of embryo culture in assisted reproduction.