AIVF, an Israeli reproductive technology company, has successfully developed AI-powered embryo quality assessment software that simplifies the embryo selection process in IVF.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been shown to be capable of detecting cancer, identifying cavities, and answering medical questions.
Now, AI also acts as a "powerful assistant" to help fertility doctors select the best embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures.
According to information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 adult women are unable to conceive naturally after a year of trying.
Therefore, many people decide to seek IVF - a method that has helped many women in the US become pregnant. However, the effectiveness of this method is not absolutely guaranteed.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the cost of an IVF treatment is very expensive, averaging around $12,000 per cycle. In fact, most IVF treatments require more than one treatment cycle.
AI software supports embryo selection
To improve IVF operations, AIVF, a reproductive technology company in Tel Aviv, Israel, has successfully developed AI-powered embryo quality assessment software, with the aim of reducing the number of unsuccessful IVF cases.
Software called EMA is programmed to process huge amounts of data, beyond human capabilities, helping to simplify the embryo selection process.
“IVF is one of the most important medical advances of the last 50 years,” Daniella Gilboa, an embryologist and co-founder and CEO of AIVF, told Fox News Digital. “But it’s not good enough. The success rate [of IVF] is only between 23-25% across all age groups. That means only one in five people who undergo IVF will get pregnant.”
According to Gilboa, one of the biggest challenges today is that IVF clinics cannot keep up with the increased demand.
“More and more women are choosing to freeze their eggs to delay childbearing and focus on their careers. That means there is an increasing demand for IVF while resources are limited,” she said.
For example, in the US, only 20% of IVF needs are met, meaning the remaining 80% of women have to give up their dream of becoming mothers.
According to Gilboa, embryo selection is one of the most important steps in the IVF process. Typically, the decision on which embryos to choose will be made by qualified doctors.
“Imagine you’re an embryologist, looking at a bunch of different embryos in a busy lab setting and having to decide which one has the best chance of getting pregnant. You might have to consider 10 or 12 embryos that look exactly the same and sometimes have to make difficult choices,” says Gilboa.
However, with the support of EMA software, the process of evaluating embryo quality becomes significantly easier, thanks to the application of advanced algorithms to select embryos with the highest chance of successful conception.
According to Gilboa, this AI tool has been "trained" to detect embryonic characteristics that determine different outcomes (gender, implantation process or genetic abnormalities...) that the human eye cannot see.
AI software will help increase the chances of successful conception.
The final choice will be made based on the evaluation score of each embryo.
Gilboa also said that without AI, doctors would have to judge the quality of embryos based on their external appearance.
“However, this approach is based entirely on human subjective analysis without actually quantifying the actual success rate of conception. Meanwhile, AI has the ability to help doctors eliminate as many uncertainties as possible, while providing information clearly and accurately,” she said.
Compared to humans, this AI tool is capable of assessing embryo quality in a much shorter period of time. This also means that clinics can serve more patients and meet more needs.
EMA is “trained” using time-lapse videos of embryo development. The software has to analyze which embryos have a positive outcome and which are less likely to conceive.
“You need to (process) a huge amount of data. It's a long process, going through many stages to build a model that's good enough to be applicable (in medicine),” Gilboa said.
Highly rated by industry experts
California-based infertility researcher and fertility trainer Dr. Shahin Ghadir believes that AI-powered products like EMA could be very helpful.
“The development of reproductive medicine is facing major obstacles due to a lack of human resources and expertise in this field,” Ghadir told Fox News Digital. “Given that embryologists are limited in number and often difficult to train, new technology will be very welcome.”
While EMA can help optimize and speed up the embryo selection process, Gilboa also notes that the software is not intended to replace the role of doctors.
Ultimately, EMA and similar software are simply tools to assist physicians in the process of evaluating embryos, counseling patients, and providing more efficient IVF services.
According to Gilboa, this is not a (war) where humans confront AI but where humans "ally" with AI for a good purpose.
Ghadir himself supports the idea of using AI in the medical field, but he also emphasizes the need to "carefully consider important criteria" before making a final decision.
It is not excluded that some risks may occur, such as errors in embryo classification, which will affect the final result of the IVF operation.
In addition, ethical considerations need to be considered when using AI to select embryos. This can influence the decisions of individuals and their families.
EMA software is currently being used in European countries, Southeast Asia, South America and is expected to be available in the US soon.
According to Gilboa, most clinics that have purchased and tested the software have responded very positively to the quality of the software.
The technology also saves costs for patients as the time required for successful conception is significantly reduced.
According to Gilboa, with traditional IVF, to achieve a successful pregnancy, patients must undergo an average of 3-5 treatment cycles. But with EMA, that number drops to an average of only 1.6 cycles.
And so, thanks to the application of AI technology, the dream of becoming parents of infertile patients can be completely realized through the IVF method.
(According to Vietnam+)
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