Together. All the way.

In the IVF lab we basically do the same things every day. Often performed on a very tight schedule and not all that interesting but still must be done with care, as everything which concerns patients. Preparation of dishes is one of those very important things that at least I find time consuming and slightly boring. Dish preparation is commonly done several times a day: perhaps in the morning for ICSI, during mid-day for sperm insemination of oocytes and most common, in the late afternoon as part of the preparations for next day. How do we prepare dishes? And how should we do it?

Vitrification has in recent years become the cryopreservation method of choice, with high survival rates and developmental potential of oocytes and embryos similar to fresh ones. Yet there are challenges to overcome, both for the oocyte and embryo and for the embryologist. In this recorded webinar Dr. Ann-Helene Jakobsson will give you insight into how to succeed with vitrification. 

“Maintaining the correct temperature is a critical environmental factor for gametes and embryos and needs to be carefully monitored. You must be aware of confounders as hot and cold spots on warming plates, laminar hood or ventilation flows and open or closed lid to ensure a safe working temperature”, says Jan Gunst, clinical embryologist at the public IVF clinic at AZ Sint-Jan in Bruges, Belgium. Watch his story here.

This year, Geneva was the place to be when participating in the annual meeting of ESHRE. Similar to previous years, professionals from all over the world gathered to present or listen to the latest scientific developments in the field of assisted reproduction as well as to meet with colleagues. 

During the Vitrolife Scientific Symposium at ESHRE 2017, we had the pleasure of listening to three international experts in the field of human IVF sharing their experience in laboratory management, morphokinetics and cryobiology. We are confident that information from these presentations will assist you in not only in improving your workflow, but will help you to maximise the success of each cycle of IVF performed.

Many clinics have seen the benefit of making time-lapse a standard of care for their patients. The same is true for Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS). The fact that there are two such widely implemented techniques has created some questions about which new technology will offer the best treatment options for improving clinical outcome. In this webinar Dr. Tine Qvistgaard Kajhøj shows how time-lapse and PGS can be used together to offer the best overall possibility for improving outcomes and clinical workflow.

Almost three decades ago, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) was applied clinically for the first time by pioneers like Alan Handyside in the UK and Yuri Verlinsky in the US. Still, introducing this procedure can be a challenge. In this blog post you will get a practical guidance of what to consider when introducing PGT in your IVF clinic.

Correct assessment of a semen sample is mandatory for diagnosis of infertility. During preliminary assessment as well as during potential later treatment, the appropriate selection procedure should result in a clean fraction of progressive motile functional sperm cells. This blog post will discuss different alternatives for sperm selection.

Vitrification and warming are operator dependent techniques. You need skilled embryologists with attention to detail to obtain high survival rates. Every IVF lab has its own ways of working to achieve optimal success. In this blog post we share tips and tricks we have learned from visiting labs around the world when providing support and troubleshooting on vitrification.

Hyaluronic acid, also called hyaluronan, is a glycosaminoglycan distributed widely throughout our body. It is particularly abundant in the female reproductive tract, both in the oviduct and the uterus, which makes hyaluronan an important molecule for applications in assisted reproduction. In this blog I will focus on the role of hyaluronan in the process of embryo implantation.