Together. All the way.

Can you tell the difference between a validation and a clinical study? Do you know what to consider when starting a randomised controlled trial? Being author or co-author on more than 60 peer reviewed papers I have a keen interest in current regulation regarding clinical studies and will share some of my experience on conducting clinical studies in this blog post. I hope I will be able to help you sort out some of the many variables related to clinical studies and what you need to consider.

Egg collection is one of the most important steps in the IVF treatment and could also be one of the most difficult. An optimal egg collection should give the maximum amount of undamaged eggs, in a short period of time, with as little pain and anxiety as possible for the patient. Dr. Göran Westlander is the Medical Director at Livio Fertility Center Göteborg, a private IVF-clinic in Sweden. In this blog post he shares his experience on how the egg collection procedure can be optimised. 

ASRM – the American Society for Reproductive Medicine took place in Baltimore, USA at the end of October. Together, the Vitrolife team covered most of the scientific sessions. The programme as always covered a large variety of topics. The continued interest in the use of time-lapse in the IVF clinic was particularly evident. In this blog post we share some of the highlights in our view.

Is so called social freezing, the ability to freeze a woman´s unfertilised egg, a controversial service or a revolution for women? Dr. Valérie Vernaeve, Medical Director at Eugin Clinic in Spain, has positive experience of helping women this way in her clinic. In this blog post she shares her experience and research on the relatively new phenomenon social freezing.

Associated Professor David Edgar is the scientific director at Melbourne IVF in Australia, with extensive experience in the field of assisted reproduction. One of his focus areas is how to optimise the ability of embryos to survive cryopreservation. In this blog post he discusses the question about the role of slowfreezing in assisted reproduction.

Temperature, pH and osmolality are some of the most important parameters to take into account during In Vitro embryo culture. In any good quality management system these parameters, amongst others, should be monitored and regulated on a regular basis to ensure optimal culture conditions are maintained. In this blog post I will specifically highlight the importance of pH and its relation to CO₂ measurements for successful results in IVF.

With the introduction of time-lapse technology, the field of assisted reproduction takes a leap forward. Time-lapse monitoring systems present a significant step in improving IVF treatment on all levels. Time-lapse technology introduces new opportunities in the clinic for improved workflow, quality control and communication between embryologists, clinicians and patients.

But most importantly, time-lapse has developed into a powerful and well-proven method for ensuring undisturbed culture of embryos, while providing invaluable detailed insight into embryo development. With this, time-lapse allows more informed decisions in embryo selection compared to conventional microscopy. In this blog post, I will discuss how a decision support tool can help you enhance your embryo selection from the information obtained with time-lapse imaging. 

Once again we have visited ESHRE, the annual meeting for European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology, the biggest event in the field of IVF. Together, the Vitrolife team covered most of the sessions and listened to many interesting and sometimes provoking presentations. In this blog post we will share some of our thoughts from this year’s meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

As ESHRE is approaching, you may be getting your presentations ready. With up to 10,000 people expected to attend, how do you make your talk stand out? By making it memorable, engaging and informative. John Clare has helped thousands of physicians and researchers prepare for presentations just like this. In this blog post he will share his most important tips for how to make your presentation memorable.