Patki Hospital, Kolhapur and Lilac Insights Private Limited, Mumbai have jointly announced the results of the path breaking technologies in In Vitro fertilization (IVF) (Test Tube Baby) therapy known as “Non Invasive Chromosomal Screening (NICS)” of the pre implantation blastocyst embryos.
Dr. Satish Patki a senior IVF consultant of Patki Hospital and Dr Sam Balu, Head of Genomics Department at Lilac Insights have been the most important spokespersons to share the announcement about this technologies that is supplied at quite handful of IVF centers across the world.
IVF is an currently established therapy for infertile couples exactly where eggs of the lady/ female is fertilized with the male’s sperms in a laboratory and then cultured in the incubator. The most mature kind of the embryo, in the kind of a ball of a number of cells with a fluid filled cavity known as blastocyst is created on the fifth day, right after retrieval of eggs.
It is proved that about 30% to 40% of the embryos created throughout IVF are chromosomally abnormal (aneuploid). Hence right after transfer of such embryos to the mother’s womb, they are rejected by nature and only chromosomally regular embryos (euploid) get implanted, supplied the uterus is receptive.
Presently, the technologies which detects the chromosomal status of the blastocyst known as Pre-implantation Genetic Testing (PGT) is invasive. In PGT, handful of cells from the blastocyst are removed by a little needle (embryo biopsy) below the microscope with the assist of laser technologies and then these cells are subjected for the chromosomal evaluation. However, this process has disadvantage of becoming invasive and traumatic to the embryo and can lead to embryo harm. Additionally, it requirements a skilled embryologist to execute the process and higher finish instrumentation involving the laser machine.
NICS on the other hand is an completely noninvasive process exactly where the embryo remains untouched. Normally, the embryos are cultured in the incubator for 5 days individually in a little droplet of 20 to 30 microlitres of the culture medium, arranged in a petri dish. During this period of culture, cell no cost DNA from the blastocyst cells migrate to the culture medium in the droplet. In the procedure of NICS, 20 microlitres of this culture medium is taken for the evaluation of the chromosomal make up of the embryo, with no disturbing the embryo. The blastocyst is frozen and preserved for the process of embryo transfer later. Usually, throughout the IVF therapy cycle, 6 to 8 eggs are retrieved which outcome in the final formation of 3 to 4 blastocysts. The blastocyst which shows euploid (regular) pattern is chosen for transfer.
NICS technologies can prove revolutionary in the therapy of IVF as it will strengthen possibilities of pregnancy considering that only euploid embryos are transferred and the possibilities of them becoming implanted are higher. It is specifically valuable for patients above 35 years, as the incidence of possessing aneuploid embryos is greater in them. NICS can keep away from transfer and subsequent implantation of such aneuploid embryos, resulting in poor pregnancy outcome in the kind of abortions or chromosomal abnormalities in the babies like becoming born with Down syndrome.
Presently, in quite a few IVF centers 2 or more blastocysts are transferred to the mother’s womb in the hope of receiving implantation of at least one. However, on quite a few occasions it final results into twin or a number of pregnancy, which is medically regarded as a higher danger pregnancy due to its association with greater incidence of complications like abortion, preterm delivery, hypertension throughout pregnancy and low birth weight babies, requiring NICU care. NICS can guide the IVF specialist to transfer single euploid blastocyst avoiding multifetal pregnancy.
Patki Hospital in collaboration with Genomics Department of Lilac Insights is carrying out NICS evaluation of quite a few blastocysts. Microphotograph of each and every blastocyst is taken and the correlation of the morphology and the chromosomal make up of the blastocyst is completed.
”Interestingly 5 patients have positive pregnancy final results right after transferring NICS tested euploid blastocysts. The remaining NICS tested blastocysts are frozen and will be transferred quickly,” mentioned Dr. Satish Patki, Senior IVF Consultant, Patki Hospital
Dr. Sam Balu, Head of Genomics at Lilac Insights stated that “Non-Invasive Chromosome Screening in IVF embryos is a game changer. The SureT ™ test (brand name of the Non-Invasive Chromosome Screening test) could be offered as a routine non-invasive screening test for chromosome number for most IVF embryos. This is in sharp contrast to the current practice wherein only a few selected embryos are screened using PGT-A, as this method is expensive because it requires a laser, the biopsy process is time consuming and it is also traumatic to the embryo.”
He added that exactly where as a sampling of cells from a single embryo in PGT-A could take up to an hour, sample collection for SureT™ test can be completed in handful of minutes. The SureT™ screening test is a time plus expense saving, non-traumatic and efficient strategy for screening the chromosome numbers in IVF embryos which is one on the crucial components in figuring out the results of the pregnancy outcome in IVF therapy.”
The initially IVF child of Kolhapur was born in Patki Hospital in 1996 and considering that then sophisticated technologies in IVF like micromanipulation, freezing of embryos and quite a few more have been documented by Patki Hospital for the initially time in the city.