摘要:
Apparatus and methods for monitoring embryos in an incubator are described. The apparatus comprises an incubation chamber defined by an incubation chamber housing and a sample platform comprising a plurality of receptacles for holding embryos within the incubation chamber for incubation. The sample platform may comprise a slide carrier on which embryo slides containing the receptacles may be placed incubation. The sample platform is rotatable about a rotation axis relative to the incubation chamber housing so as to allow receptacles to be selectively rotated to a monitoring position that is aligned with a viewing port provided in the incubation chamber housing, for example an opening or window. An imaging device is located outside the incubation chamber and arranged to image embryos within the incubation chamber at the monitoring position through the viewing port.
摘要:
Apparatus and methods for monitoring embryos in an incubator are described. The apparatus comprises an incubation chamber defined by an incubation chamber housing and a slide carrier comprising a plurality of compartment walls that define compartments for holding embryo slides within the incubation chamber for incubation. The slide carrier is moveable, for example by rotation, relative to the incubation chamber housing to allow a selected compartment to be moved to a loading position defined at least in part by a loading port wall associated with the incubation chamber housing. The loading port wall is arranged to cooperate with the wall of a compartment in the loading position to restrict the extent to which the environment of the compartment in the loading position is in fluid communication with the environments of other compartments in the incubation chamber.
摘要:
The invention concerns a system and method for determining embryo quality comprising monitoring the embryo for a time period, said time period having a length sufficient to comprise at least one cell division period and at least a part of an inter-division period, and determining the length of the at least one cell division period; and/or ii) determining the extent and/or spatial distribution of cellular or organelle movement during the cell division period; and/or iii) determining duration of an inter-division period; and/or iv) determining the extent and/or spatial distribution of cellular or organelle movement during the inter-division period thereby obtaining an embryo quality measure. Thus, the selection of optimal embryos to be implanted after in vitro fertilization (IVF) is facilitated based on the timing, duration, spatial distribution, and extent of observed cell divisions and associated cellular and organelle movement.
摘要:
Apparatus and methods for helping a user establish values (e.g. timings) for a plurality of parameters of interest (e.g. cell divisions) relating to the development of an embryo from a series of images of the embryo are described. For each parameter of interest an image is selected for display to a user seeking to establish a value for the parameter of interest. For example, the selected image may be an image predicted to be an image reflecting the value for the parameter of interest. For example, the selected image may be based on a calculated timing for a particular developmental event. The timing may be calculated from a numerical analysis of the images or maybe predetermined. If the user is unable to determine a value for the parameter of interest from the selected image, the user may scroll through neighbouring images until the user can determine a value for the parameter of interest. A value for the proud of interest may then be established in response to user input, for example a user providing an indication that a timing associated with a currently displayed image from the series of images should be taken to be the value of the parameter of interest. The different parameters of interest may be established in an iterative manner in which an initial image for display to a user is selected for each parameter of interest based on the parameter of interest.
摘要:
The invention relates to an incubator having a chamber for cultivating embryos and a gas control system for maintaining a constant atmosphere in the incubating chamber. In a first aspect the invention relates to an incubator for incubating embryos, comprising an incubating chamber adapted to contain the embryos, and a gas unitary module in fluid communication with the incubating chamber comprising at least two proportional valves, a CO 2 gas sensor and an O 2 gas sensor, wherein the gas unitary module is adapted to receive a gas supply of N 2 at one of said proportional valves and CO 2 at another of said proportional valves, and control the proportional valves based on feedback from the gas sensors such that supply of N 2 and CO 2 to the incubation chamber is regulated to sustain a predefined level of O 2 and/or CO 2 in said incubating chamber.
摘要:
A computer implemented method for automatically detecting variations and/or abnormalities in the developmental conditions of in vitro incubating embryos, the method comprising the steps of: a) obtaining a first dataset comprising morphokinetic parameters relating to the development of a first group of embryos, b) obtaining a second dataset comprising morphokinetic parameters relating to the development of a second group of embryos, c) modifying the first and second datasets by extracting morphokinetic parameter outliers from the first dataset and or the second datasets, d) calculating the difference between specific morphokinetic parameters from the modified first dataset and the corresponding morphokinetic parameters from the modified second dataset, and monitoring said morphokinetic difference thereby detecting variations in the developmental conditions of the first and second group of embryos.
摘要:
Methods for determining a development potential for an embryo, for example an in vitro incubating human embryo, and apparatus for implementing such methods are described. In some examples a method comprises obtaining values for a plurality of morphokinetic characteristics relating to the development of an embryo during an observation period, for example characteristics relating to the temporal or morphological development of the embryo. A value for a continuous variable is determined by combining differences between the obtained values for these characteristics and corresponding reference values in a predefined manner. The reference values may, for example, be determined from values for the plurality of characteristics obtained for at least one reference embryo of known development potential. A development potential for the embryo is then established based on the determined value for the continuous variable.
摘要:
The present invention relates to a method and to a system for selecting embryos for in vitro fertilization based on observed cell kinetics and cell morphology. One embodiment of the invention relates to a method for determining embryo quality comprising monitoring the embryo for a time period, said time period comprising the transformation of the embryo from initial compaction or morula to blastocyst and determining one or more blastocyst quality criteria for said embryo, and based on said one or more blastocyst quality criteria determining the embryo quality.