How IVF Treatment Has Advanced In Europe Since The Birth Of Louise Brown

(Newswire.net — November 28, 2014) Alicante, Alicante — It’s been almost 4 decades since the world was shocked by the news of the birth of the first ever test-tube baby. Louise Brown suddenly became a household name overnight, as mainstream news presented us with the first ever special baby not to be a Royal or the offspring of a famous person. The most relevant outcome of the experiment though, was the fact that a new tunnel of hope had been opened for thousands of men and women with fertility problems, as In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) became a reality.

 

image from dollerphotoclub.com

 

Nearly 40 years on, IVF has opened up a whole new arena of possibilities for couples to have a baby in every continent, but in the case of IVF treatment in Europe, giant leaps in technology have set the way for major increases in pregnancy success rates. Examples of IVF innovation that have helped today’s infertility problems include advances in freezing embryos and Time-lapse technology, while currently working on improving natural incubation. Nick Macklon, professor of obstetrics at the University of Southampton, has stated that companies are currently looking at developing a device used to load embryos into, which is then placed into the uterus, which would then act as an incubator. He added: “I believe it’s going to be something that’ll be introduced in the next couple of years, and promises to be quite a significant development.”

 

Freezing embryos will maximize the chances of conceiving from a single artificially stimulated cycle, though more are produced, allowing some to be frozen and stored. Freezing also allows for cutting out the use of artificial hormones, meaning embryos can be inserted at the appropriate point in a mother’s natural cycle. The fast-freezing technique is the latest advance to be seen for IVF treatment in Europe, and is known as vitrification. This technique has greatly enhanced the chances of frozen embryos surviving, with data from Danish research indicating that offspring born from frozen embryos weigh slightly more than other babies born with IVF, though the findings are still unclear about whether the extra weight is to do with the freezing process, or whether the hormones were just not required. Nick Macklon says: “We are only just beginning to really understand some subtle effects of freezing and thawing on the embryo, but it may well be that in the future, that freezing all embryos and transferring them in the normal cycle will become a routine procedure.”

 

Another recent IVF development in Europe has been in time-lapse incubators, with cameras allowing IVF doctors to leave embryos undisturbed between fertilization and transfer, whereas before embryos were removed from their incubators each day for analysis under a microscope. Time-lapse technology has also provided a lot more detailed information about an embryo develops, with IVF experts describing it as a tremendously powerful technology that will improve IVF treatment considerably.

 

Also in Europe, Ivf Fertility Clinic, Ivf-Spain, was the first clinic in Spain to offer the Early Embryo Viability Assessment, known as the Eeva test. The Eeva test is the only non-invasive IVF test, which has been clinically proven to increase the accuracy of predicting viable embryos at an early stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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