Washington Post Commentary Explores Embryo Freezing

The Washington Post featured a commentary from Gillian St. Lawrence, a 30-year-old woman who underwent in vitro fertilization and embryo freezing as "a way to postpone parenthood without risking the higher miscarriage and genetic disorder rates that occur in babies conceived from parents older than 35." Typically, women who undergo IVF take hormones to produce several blastocyts -- five- to seven-day-old embryos -- and one or two of the embryos are implanted into the woman shortly thereafter. The remaining embryos can be frozen for future pregnancy attempts.
St. Lawrence writes that she initially did not plan on having children and that the idea of embryo freezing occurred to her while she was researching ways to donate her eggs. "My husband and I could create embryos, freeze them and, essentially, donate them to our future selves," she states.

Through her research on IVF, St. Lawrence "learned that the younger the parents are when they produce the eggs and sperm involved in any conception, whether in the womb or in vitro, the better the chance of a healthy baby." The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology reports that 47% of IVF pregnancies derived from fresh embryos resulted in live births, compared with 35% of pregnancies from frozen embryos that resulted in live births. "Initially, those success rates did not sound high," St. Lawrence writes, adding, "But the numbers referred to a single cycle; most couples ... produce several embryos during IVF, and if the first implantation is unsuccessful, they try again, and the cumulative success rate is much higher" (St. Lawrence, Washington Post, 7/6).

Christchurch woman seeks an egg donor

Desperate to be a mum, a Christchurch woman with a genetic condition that means she cannot conceive is advertising for an egg donor after two failed in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles.

Can you help Lisa? Email reporters@press.co.nz.

Lisa never thought she would consider an egg donor, but said she doesn't want her inability to conceive to be her life's story.

She doesn't want to feel odd around friends and family with children, and instead wants to put her grief and anger aside and get on with her life.

But first she needs to try a donor egg to see if it will succeed where two IVF courses failed.

Now 38, there was never a time when Lisa even considered she might not be able to have children.

In a stable relationship for 10 years and married for five, she said she and her partner thought there was no hurry.

"Being able to have a family was something I took for granted."

But Lisa discovered she was the carrier of a hereditary condition that meant having children naturally wasn't an option.

The couple went through two treatment cycles. The egg harvesting went well but once the eggs became embryos only one from both cycles was worth implanting. The procedure failed.

"Trying IVF a third time would most likely end in the same heartbreaking result."

IVF was hard and the financial, emotional and physical burden too much to bear.

Lisa said the outcome has changed everything for her.

"I live daily with grief and feelings of shame surrounding my tainted femininity and inability to give life."

Her sister was also unable to have children, which means her quest for an egg needs to go beyond her immediate family.

She was widening her appeal to anyone willing to help. She needs someone between 21 and 37 who has completed her own family and who is willing to go through counselling, then IVF for no monetary reward, since egg donors are not allowed to be paid.

IVF Babies May be More Prone to Childhood Cancers

IVF babies, those children who were conceived via in vitro fertilization, seem to experience an increased risk for childhood cancer versus babies conceived naturally, wrote WebMD, citing Swedish research. The new study is believed to be the first of its kind to indicate a scientifically strong link, said the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, reported WebMD.

According to the study’s lead author, childhood cancer is considered rare and the increase seen is small to moderate, potentially linked to the infertility, said WebMD. “There is an increased risk for cancer in children born via IVF, but it’s rather small,” researcher Bengt Kallen, MD, PhD, a retired professor of embryology and head of the Tornblad Institute, University of Lund, Lund, Germany, told WebMD. “The estimate that we give is that the risk increases 40 percent, but the estimate has, of course, a degree of uncertainty,” Dr. Kallen added. The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.

The team researched 26,692 Swedish children born via IVF from 1982 to 2005, using the Swedish Cancer Registry, said WebMD. The group compared the IVF children who had cancer versus those conceived naturally, noted WebMD, which added that the emerging study compliments information from a prior study by the same team, which looked at some 17,000 children. The prior study showed the same results; however, the emerging study indicates a stronger link.

After accounting for a series of variables—maternal age, pregnancy instances, miscarriages, body mass index—53 cases of cancer were seen in the IVF children, an increase over the 38 that would have been statistically probable in the general population, said WebMD. Cancers included leukemia and cancers of the central nervous system and eye, as well as other solid tumors and Langerhans histiocytosis, a condition in which the body experiences an excess of a specific white blood cell, wrote WebMD. While experts disagree on this condition being a cancer, when the incidences of this condition—six cases—were removed, there still existed an increased risk of 34 percent, added WebMD.

IVF babies were 1.4 times—40 percent—likelier to experience cancer in the follow-up period, which ended in 2006, said WebMD.

Last month we wrote that the risk of birth defects seems to be twice as high in babies conceived via fertility treatment, versus babies conceived naturally, according to French scientists. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment includes a variety of infertility treatment methods such as vitro fertilization (IVF) in which an egg is fertilized by sperm in a lab, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

Earlier this year we wrote, citing Reuters, that women who undergo IVF or ICSI and who become pregnant, experience an increased risk of giving birth to a stillborn baby, according to Danish scientists. In 2008, we wrote that Chinese researchers reported that the use of IVF or ICSI to conceive appears to increase the odds of Y-chromosome defects or “microdeletions” in male offspring, meaning that chromosomal defects, or deletions, could result in defective sperm production and possibly hypospadias, a congenital malformation of the male sex organs in which the urinary outlet, or urethra, does not open through the glans of the penis, but develops on the penis’ underside.

Test predicts success of second IVF

A test that predicts the success of second attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment with 1000 times more accuracy than the existing approach has been developed.

Experts believe the patented test could help couples decide if it is worth another try at IVF after an initial failure.

About three quarters of IVF treatments fail to produce a pregnancy.

Currently, age is used as the starting point for advising patients on the likely outcome of IVF.

A woman of 38 might be told she has a 33 per cent chance of becoming pregnant with IVF but the odds are lengthened if she is low on eggs.

The new test is said to be 1000 times more accurate than age-based guidelines.

However, since it relies on data from a first IVF treatment cycle, it can only be used to predict the success or failure of a second treatment.

The procedure, developed by Dr Mylene Yao and a team of researchers at Stanford University, California, effectively turns the initial cycle into a prognostic test.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists concluded: "Our findings show that the first IVF cycle can provide quantitative, customised prediction of the live birth probability in a subsequent cycle.

"This concept is radically different from the current paradigm, in which age is a major predictor."

Stanford University holds a patent on the test and a spin out company called Univfy has been formed to develop and market it.

The scientists analysed data from 1676 IVF treatments performed at Stanford between 2003 and 2006 and identified 52 factors that influenced a woman's chances of having a baby.

As well as age, they included levels of certain hormones, the number and quality of eggs, and embryo characteristics.

A computer model was developed that used the information to sort patients into different sub-groups according to their subsequent IVF success.

In 60 per cent of cases the model's predictions varied significantly from those based on age alone - and more than half of these showed an improved chance of having a baby.

The findings indicated that relying on age alone "may provide misleading live birth outcome probabilities for a large portion of patients", said the researchers.

Co-author Dr Lynn Westphal, from Stanford's Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Centre, said a woman's decision to repeat IVF was influenced by a number of factors including cost and the chances of becoming pregnant.

"Many patients, even if they have insurance coverage, will drop out - either because they don't understand what their odds are or they find it's a very emotionally challenging experience to go through."

Indian Rupee finally gets its symbol

Finally, the Rupee will have a symbol like the Dollar ($) or the Euro (€) or the Pound (£). The Cabinet today finalised the design for the Rupee.

IIT post-graduate Uday kumar's entry has been selected out of five shortlisted designs as the new symbol for the Indian Rupee.

The government had organised a symbol design competition with a prize money of Rs 2.5 lakh. Five designs were shortlisted from a competition and all new notes will bear the design finally approved.

The growing influence of the Indian economy in the global space is said to have prompted this move that will result in the Indian rupee joining the select club of global currencies like the US dollar, the British Pound, European Euro and Japanese Yen that have unique symbols.

The abbreviation for the Indian Rupee, 'Re' or 'Rs' is used by India's neighbours Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Brave Heart

Tango For Less Cash

Germany green lights gene testing

Embryos created during in vitro fertilisation can be screened for genetic defects before being implanted in the womb, a landmark German court ruling says.

The Federal Supreme Court in Leipzig on Tuesday ruled in support of a Berlin gynecologist who had carried out screening on embryos for three different couples and implanted only those that were healthy. The embryos with hereditary genetic defects were left to die off.

The high court's ruling upheld a decision by a Berlin state court that the doctor's action did not violate German laws for the protection of embryos.

The 47-year-old doctor, who was not identified by the court, brought the case to court himself in 2006 to clarify the legal situation. He was first acquitted by a regional court in Berlin, but the city's state prosecutor appealed.

'The accused, a gynecologist who focuses on fertility treatment, has been acquitted of the allegation of threefold violation of the embryo protection law,' the court said in its verdict, ruling that in vitro fertilisation, without any restrictions, is allowed.

The doctor had treated three couples between 2005 and 2006 who could not get pregnant naturally. In all three cases, one of the partners carried the risk of a congenital genetic illness that would have 'very likely led to a miscarriage, the death of the newborn right after the delivery or the birth of a critically ill child,' the court wrote.

Judge Clemens Basdorf told German news agency DAPD that the examination of IVF embryos should be legal 'if there is a danger of grave genetic defects for the desired children of the patients.'

Boeing's 787, as innovative inside as outside

Oh sure, Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner is made of composite materials and it's super fuel efficient, but unless you own an airline, the only thing you care about is how comfortable it is. Boeing knows this, and has striven to give passengers an experience unlike any other airplane.
The aerospace company decided an all-new airplane needs an all-new interior and went all-out to make the 787's interior as innovative as its airframe, aerodynamics and engines. From the air you breath to the turbulence you (won't) feel to the windows you look through, the passenger experience promises to provide something new at every stage of your flight.
"When you go inside a 787 mockup, you get this 'wow!'" said airline analyst Scott Hamilton, who got to see a demo interior at Boeing's facility near Seattle.
You know the 787 is something different the moment you step inside.
Boeing wastes no time giving passengers a new experience. As soon as you board the Dreamliner, you're greeted by an open area just inside the door. The ceiling resembles a skylight, complete with blue LED lighting that mimics the sky.
"They've designed this kind of lounge area instead of coming in next to a galley," Hamilton says. "It really gives you a welcoming area instead of entering into somebody's kitchen."
Of course, it's up to the airlines buying the planes to decide what you see, and some of them may well modify the boarding area and other features of the plane. But even if they muck it up completely, there's still a lot of "wow" in the 787 cabin.
The onboard lighting is one of the coolest features.
Anyone who has flown across more than a couple of time zones knows how difficult it is to sleep, and to be awakened with the flick of a switch that floods the cabin in fluorescent white light. Boeing's LEDs allow the crew to adjust the lighting to match different phases of the flight.
The light is fairly standard during boarding and while cruising. During meals it is adjusted to warmer tones. Once you're done eating and want to tilt the seat back and relax, the cabin can be bathed in a relaxing lavender hue. When it's time to sleep, the lights are turned way down.
But it's how the crew wakes you that's the best part of the Dreamliner's lighting.
Instead of flicking the lights on and flooding the cabin in light, the cabin will brighten slowly, with the light transitioning from the purples and oranges of a sunrise to yellows, and eventually white against a blue sky. Boeing's thought is mimicking the light schedule of your destination, some of the dreaded jet lag can be alleviated
Sleep time brings up another innovation.
Gone is that dreaded moment when, after you finally fall asleep, that passenger in the window seat raises the shade to make sure the Pacific Ocean is still there and fills the cabin with sunlight. The windows of the 787 don't have shades. They use an electrochromic dimmable system.
You can let in all the light you want -- or none at all -- at the flick of a switch. Of course, the crew has a master switch, so when it's time to sleep, that guy in the window seat can only get just enough light to confirm the Pacific hasn't gone anywhere without bothering everybody else.
He'll have a better view, too. The 787's windows are 65 percent bigger than the windows in other planes. Boeing made them taller, so kids and NBA players can enjoy the same view as the average passenger.
Boeing spent a lot of time focusing on how passengers perceive the cabin.
Let's face it: you're sitting in a tube. It's only so big -- the fuselage is 18 feet 11 inches wide -- and there's only so much space you can use. Things are always a little more spacious in first class, but Boeing wanted to make sure even those of us crammed into coach feel like we have more room.
To do that, Boeing's designers gave the 787 an open, airy design. It's another reason for the skylight-like lighting.
"The upper ceiling designs are arched in such a fashion that you get a much more open feeling than you do in a typical wide-body airplane," Hamilton says.
Even the overhead bins have been redesigned.
To accommodate the trend of more carry-on bags due to baggage fees and the unwillingness of some passengers to part with their luggage, Boeing made the bins about 30 percent bigger. They're easier to load because they lower when opened and tuck away when raised. That should be a big help for people who don't understand what a carry-on should be and make it easier for the rest of us to stash our stuff and get out of the aisle.
The composite structure of the 787 means the Dreamliner is lighter and more aerodynamic, which is a boon for airlines. But the composite construction means the airframe isn't prone to corrosion like aluminum. That means the crew can increase the humidity of the cabin, reducing that parched feeling you have after a long flight.
And thanks again to the composite fuselage, the interior cabin pressure can be increased. This means the cabin will be pressurized to an altitude of 6,000 feet instead of the typical 8,000 feet. These combined factors should make breathing much more comfortable and lead to fewer headaches, fatigue and other health issues common to many passengers.
Another factor that often leads to headaches and general annoyance is noise, especially if you're sitting behind the engines. The new serrated engine nacelles on the 787 make the plane quieter -- both for passengers and those who live in the plane's flight path. Even the fan blades inside the engine are designed to be quieter.
One of the more innovative passenger comfort systems on the 787 is the computer-controlled turbulence-reduction system.
Boeing claims the Smoother Ride Technology will provide an eight-fold reduction in the number of people experiencing motion sickness. Sensors throughout the airplane detect subtle changes in air pressure indicative of turbulence and direct the fly-by-wire flight controls to move flaperons on the wings to counter the vertical motion. It won't eliminate all the bumps, but Boeing says it will work especially well on the moderate turbulence that causes most airsickness.
All of this technology puts the 787 well ahead of the competition, Hamilton says. He points out that if you only know the standard airline interior, you won't feel like you're missing anything. But even the most modern of interiors in other airplanes doesn't compare.
"Airbus had done a complete makeover of the A320 interior in 2007," Hamilton says. "But it's a conventional looking interior. It's very good, but having been inside the 787, you just get that 'wow' factor."
And the new interiors will make the airlines happy as well. From the windows to the bathrooms and everything in between, the 787 interior is designed to be easier to clean and cheaper to repair or replace.
The Dreamliner is two years overdue and Boeing has lost orders because of those delays. But Hamilton and others say once the flight test is finished and the first loads of passengers have flown on the new airplane, most of the bad memories should be erased.
He says there are likely to be a few more hiccups between now and then, but is confident both the airlines and the flying public will appreciate the new design.
"Boeing is going to have a real winner on its hands," he says.
We'll find out in nine months. That's when Japan's All Nippon Airways starts service with the first passenger carrying 787.

Don't go off the edge of this pool!

If you fancy a dip in this pool, you'll need a head for heights - it's 55 storeys up.
But swimming to the edge won't be quite as risky as it looks. While the water in the infinity pool seems to end in a sheer drop, it actually spills into a catchment area where it is pumped back into the main pool. At three times the length of an Olympic pool and 650ft up, it is the largest outdoor pool in the world at that height.
It features in the impressive, boat-shaped 'SkyPark' perched atop the three towers that make up the world's most expensive hotel, the £4billion Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore.
The hotel, which has 2,560 rooms costing from £350 a night, was officially opened yesterday with a concert by Diana Ross.
The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, estimated to have cost £2billion when it opened in 2004, was previously the world's most expensive hotel.
The hotel, which has 2,560 rooms costing from £350 a night, was officially opened yesterday with a concert by Diana Ross.
The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, estimated to have cost £2billion when it opened in 2004, was previously the world's most expensive hotel.
The resort is set to employ 10,000 people directly and generate up to £48million each year. Entrance to the casino alone is nearly £50 a day - but an average of 25,000 people have visited the casino daily since its initial phased opening two months ago.
Thomas Arasi, president and chief executive officer of the resort, said he expects to attract an astonishing 70,000 visitors a day, 18 million a year.
The resort was designed by Moshe Safdie, who said he based it on a deck of cards.
It was due to open in 2009, but was delayed thanks to labour and material shortages, and funding problems due to the global financial crisis.
Last night, singing legend Diana Ross performed for 2,500 VIPs in the resort's Grand Ballroom. Singer Kelly Rowland also headlined an outdoor concert there yesterday.
The opening celebrations also featured a death-defying relay. Seven teams of three participants each scaled the three towers in succession before sprinting across the 340-metre long Sands SkyPark, where the infinity pool is located, to the finish line.

The Big Brass Gong

After closing time at the bar, a drunk was proudly showing off his new apartment to a couple of his friends. He led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong and a mallet.
"What's up with the big brass gong?" one of his guests asked.
"It's not a gong. It's a talking clock," the drunk replied.
"A talking clock? Seriously?" asked his astonished friend.
"Yup," replied the drunk.
"How's it work?" the friend asked, squinting at it.
"Watch," the drunk replied. He picked up the mallet, gave the gong an ear-shattering pound and stepped back.
The three stood looking at one another for a moment.
Suddenly a voice on the other side of the wall screamed ...
"You asshole! It's three-fifteen in the morning!"

Man Tattoos his body with 220 Flags

Body Tattoos are very popular among youngsters, but a 67 years old Man from India has tattooed his whole body with 220 flags and a world map.

He is so possessed for getting into Guinness Book of World Records that he has changed his first name to Guinness.

With six tattoos of countries – Canada, Union Jack, India, USA, Cyprus and the Indian Congress Party, on his face, Guinness, who changed his name in honor of the famous record book, believes that he will complete his challenge in two years.

According to Rishi, his face will include the most important flags. He believes that if the tattoo of one flag will measure 1-inch, his head will be covered with 60 flags.

Have you ever seen a gold dispensing machine?

In Assisted-Reproduction Technology, Europe Leads The World

Europe leads the world in Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) with most cycles initiated in the region, the 26th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology heard.

According to data presented by the European IVF Monitoring Group (EIM), 479,288 treatment cycles were reported in 32 European countries in 2007 . This compares globally with 142,435 cycles from the US and 56,817 cycles from Australia and New Zealand. "The number of cycles performed in many developed countries has grown by 5-10% per annum over the last 5 years," said Dr. Jacques de Mouzon, chairman of ESHRE's EIM. "The 4.5% increase we observed in Europe from 2006 to 2007 however is partly due to more clinics reporting to our database," he added.

In 28 countries where clinics reported deliveries, more than 90,000 babies were born in 2007. There were 118,667 regular IVF treatments, 246,687 intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles, 74,855 frozen embryo transfer cycles (FER), 15,028 egg donor cycles (ED), 6,822 preimplantation genetic diagnosis/screening cycles (PGD/PGS) and 660 in vitro maturation cycles (IVM). "The reverse trend from IVF to ICSI continues with now 67.5% of fresh cycles using the latter technology, although the efficacy of ICSI in terms of pregnancy rates is the same as standard IVF," he added.

He pointed out that the overall rate of multiple births was very similar to the previous year with European ART twin deliveries at 20.5% and triplet deliveries at 0.8%. Most countries in Europe are now recording fewer than 1% triplet deliveries, except for Italy (2.8%), Latvia (11.1%) and Serbia (3.3%). "The good news is that since 1997, we have observed a decline from 30% to 21% in overall multiple birth rates and a fourfold reduction in triplet deliveries from 3.7% to 0.8%," he said.

Nordic countries like Denmark still have the highest availability of ART at 13,263 cycles per million of women aged 15-45. The lowest availabilities were recorded in the largest economies in Europe such as Germany (3,931), UK (3,794) and Italy (3,829). This is also mirrored in the number of infants born after ART with only 1.5% in Germany, 1.8% in the UK and 1.2% in Italy. In comparison in Denmark 4.9% of all children were born through IVF.

"In the last 11 years since the beginnings of the EIM we have seen a gradual increase of 26% to 33% of pregnancies per transfer for IVF and ICSI, from 15% to 22% for FER and from 27% to 46% for oocyte donation, and all this despite the transfer of fewer and fewer embryos," said Dr. de Mouzon.

In order to further assess the safety of ART, the EIM has initiated a major study (MART - the Morbidity in ART study), collecting data from a large series of ART children born in Scandinavia. Funded by ESHRE and the Medical Faculty of Copenhagen University, the team will analyse data from the national ART registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. "We estimate that we will have about 75,000 children in our database at the end. The data from Denmark and Finland are ready, the Swedish will finalise their data soon and in Norway the application to obtain these data is currently being processed," explains Prof. Anders Nyboe Andersen, past chairman of the EIM.

Due to the possibility of cross-linking ART data with data from other health registers, the researchers will be able to assess long-term morbidity in these children and compare it with appropriate control groups. "It is the long-term commitment of the EIM to expand this database to other European countries, but it will be at least a year before we can present the results to the public," Prof. Nyboe Andersen concluded.

New Measurement of Telomere DNA Could Help Identify Most Viable Embryos for IVF

Scientists from the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, are the first to directly measure a specific region of DNA in human embryos. The length of this region could be a quality marker for embryonic development.

Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School and University Hospital, Coventry, have measured telomeres, regions of repetitive DNA at the ends of a chromosome which protect it from deterioration. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides and when telomere length becomes critically short, the cells die.

The research, published in Molecular Human Reproduction Journal, suggests that telomere length is shortest in the early stages of an embryo's development, at around two days, and then lengthens just before implantation in the womb at five days. This lengthening may be essential for normal development, because short telomeres may not be enough to survive the many rounds of cell division that take place as embryos grow.

Lead authors Professor Geraldine Hartshorne, from the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School, and Sarah Turner, from University Hospital , Coventry, said this discovery could have implications for IVF treatment. Professor Hartshorne said: "It has already been shown that artificially shortened telomeres cause problems in animal embryos. Human embryos are highly variable, and many of them cannot develop normally. We think that telomere length might one day be used to help diagnose which are the most viable embryos. We also know that telomeres shorten with oxidative stress, so telomere length might also provide a measure of the stressfulness of the culture systems that we use in IVF and their impact on embryos."

The research project used oocytes and embryos donated by patients undergoing IVF treatment. Only material that could not be used for the patients' own treatment was accessed for research. Sarah Turner said: These results have given us plenty of new questions as well as answers. We now need to find out why telomere length is relatively short in early development. Our next steps are looking at single sperm and eggs to work out where the telomere length in early embryos is coming from. "

Priceless!

Most Syrians struggle to even read Arabic, much less have a clue about English.

So,how do a group of Syrian protest leaders create the most impact with their signs by having the standard "Death To Americans"slogans printed in English?

Answer: They simply hire an English-speaking civilian to translate and write their statements into English.

Unfortunately, in this case, they were unaware that the "civilian" Insurance company employee hired for the job was a retired US Army Sergeant! Obviously, pictures of this protest rally never made their way to Arab TV networks,
but the results were PRICELESS!

Advanced 3D/4D ultrasound to guide embryo transfer during in vitro fertilization improves pregnancy rates

Using advanced 3D/4D ultrasound to guide embryo transfer during in vitro fertilization (IVF) significantly reduces a woman's risk of ectopic pregnancy and its associated complications, Robert Gergely, M.D., medical director, 3D Sonography Center of Beverly Hills, reported today.

“They are particularly traumatic for those who turn to IVF in hopes of having a baby. The good news is that 3D/4D ultrasound-guided embryo transfer targeting the Maximal Implantation Potential Point significantly decreases the risk of ectopic pregnancy while it increases the chance of a successful pregnancy.”

Presenting to the 2010 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Annual Meeting in Rome, Dr. Gergely announced results from a study of 5,073 women receiving IVF and embryo transfer at a large Southern California IVF center. Using 3D/4D ultrasound, Dr. Gergely was able to pinpoint the exact spot within the uterus where infertility specialists could place an embryo with the greatest chance of successful implantation. Dr. Gergely calls this the "Maximal Implantation Potential Point" (MIP Point).




Less sophisticated 2D ultrasound technology lacks the ability to locate the MIP Point. In 2009, Dr. Gergely reported that when the MIP Point was located with 3D/4D ultrasound and the embryo transferred to it, the pregnancy rate at the center rose 10.04%.

Additional analysis has revealed that the ectopic pregnancy rate per embryo transfer declined at the center from 1.82% using 2D ultrasound to 0.50% after adopting 3D/4D ultrasound targeting the MIP Point. This 73.1% decrease is highly statistically significant, and marks the first time such data have been reported.

In ectopic pregnancies, an embryo implants outside the uterus, typically in one of the fallopian tubes. As it grows, it can rupture, causing pain and heavy bleeding that can endanger the mother's life. Normally occurring in about 2% of natural pregnancies, ectopic pregnancy rates have historically been higher in IVF patients, ranging from 2.1% to 8.6%.

"Ectopic pregnancies can be devastating, both physically and emotionally," Dr. Gergely said. "They are particularly traumatic for those who turn to IVF in hopes of having a baby. The good news is that 3D/4D ultrasound-guided embryo transfer targeting the Maximal Implantation Potential Point significantly decreases the risk of ectopic pregnancy while it increases the chance of a successful pregnancy."

Using 2D ultrasound, IVF doctors must rely on guesswork to locate an implantation point. They may transfer several embryos to increase the odds of a successful pregnancy. However, this increases the likelihood of multiple births, which carries a risk of serious complications including premature birth, cerebral palsy and infant death.

Single embryo transfer, advocated by fertility organizations, requires greater precision and accuracy. By targeting the MIP Point, doctors can increase the likelihood that embryo implantation will succeed, reducing the need to transfer multiple embryos and decreasing the risk of complications, Dr. Gergely explained.

"Focusing on the MIP Point frees the physician from trying to guess the optimal point for embryo placement," Dr. Gergely said. "By overcoming the limitations of 2D ultrasound, 3D/4D ultrasound-guided embryo transfer targeting the Maximal Implantation Potential Point increases the pregnancy rate while significantly reducing the risk of ectopic pregnancy and complications associated with multiple births."

Dr. Gergely, who invented and holds the patent on 3D/4D ultrasound-guided embryo transfer, lectures at international conferences and teaches physicians so that the procedure can become available to patients worldwide.

3D/4D Ultrasound-Guided Embryo Transfer Targeting Maximal Implantation Potential (MIP) Point Increases Pregnancy Rate and Reduces Ectopic Pregnancies. Presented June 30, 2010 at the 26th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Rome, Italy. www.eshre.com

IVF-Lite gives hope to older women who have trouble getting pregnant

It's widely known that as women age, their chances of becoming pregnant decrease. Women older than 38, in particular, often have fewer and lower quality eggs and don't respond as well as younger women to conventional efforts to produce eggs for in vitro fertilization — or IVF.

But plenty of women in this age group want to become pregnant. And they do have options.

Conventional IVF is one of these options, but it involves large doses of hormones and can cost Rs 150,000 or more per cycle for older women, with poor results. Many IVF programs turn them down anyway. Some women choose to use donor eggs, but many want to become pregnant with their own eggs. The best solution for such patients is IVF-Lite.

IVF-Lite aims to use smaller numbers of higher quality eggs. It requires fewer fertility drugs than conventional IVF, producing the best quality eggs possible and reducing the cost of drugs from an average of Rs. 100,000 to just Rs.20,000. The procedure is minimally invasive, so women experience little to no pain afterward. And it doesn't involve huge hormonal swings or ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, a complication involving swelling of the ovaries that about one out of 10 conventional IVF patients experience because of certain fertility medications.

The success of IVF-Lite is enhanced by a new method of embryo freezing called vitrification, or essentially "flash-freezing," which avoids the damage caused by ice forming inside the cell during slow freezing. It is also enhanced by specialized air purification systems that give the eggs the best environment in which to develop.

Think of this simple parable: If you are sitting under an apple tree and wish to eat the most ripe and ready apples, you have a choice. You can chop down the tree and look at every apple on the fallen tree to see which ones were ready. Or you can simply try to shake the lower branches and eat the one or two that have fallen. That is the idea of IVF-Lite. It may not work for everyone, but for many patients, especially older women, it will remove much of the aggravation and cost associated with conventional IVF. Our team at Deccan Fertility Clinic (www.testtubebabyclinic.com) specializes in IVF-Lite & Vitrification at the most affordable rates across the Indian sub-continent. Deccan Fertility Clinic is India's first budget IVF Center, located at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai.

Data Demonstrate ViaMetrics-E Improves Implantation Rates In Single Embryo Transfer IVF Cycles, A Growing Trend In Infertility Treatment

Researchers from Molecular Biometrics, Inc. presented new data this week demonstrating that the company's ViaMetrics-E procedure more accurately predicts implantation rates in single embryo transfer (SET) cycles for patients undergoing infertility treatment. ViaMetrics-E is a rapid, non-invasive procedure used to enhance in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes by identifying viable embryos having the greatest reproductive potential. These research findings were presented this week at the 26th annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Rome.

ViaMetrics-E is now available commercially in select countries in Europe, Asia and the Pacific Rim. The company expects to launch the product in other countries in Europe and Asia later this year. Molecular Biometrics is currently working to complete the necessary regulatory requirements to market the product in the U.S.

"Single embryo transfer is a significant and growing trend in infertility treatment in many countries, designed to help reduce the number of multiple births, and the costs and complications associated with them. Providing infertility specialists with greater confidence in identifying the best embryo(s) for transfer clearly supports this growing worldwide clinical focus," said James T. Posillico, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Molecular Biometrics. "ViaMetrics-E, when used in conjunction with morphology -- the standard visual assessment of embryos -- gives infertility specialists a valuable new tool to more accurately predict implantation rates while reducing the potential of multiple births. Molecular Biometrics believes this is beneficial for patients, infertility specialists and the healthcare system overall."

Data described in a podium presentation delivered by Denny Sakkas, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, Director of the Embryology Laboratory at Yale Fertility Center, and Molecular Biometrics' Chief Scientific Officer, indicate that differences in ViaMetrics-E Viability Scores could have an impact on which embryo to transfer in a patient's individual IVF cycle, and increase the potential for a successful pregnancy. Each Viability Score reflects the "health" or reproductive potential of the developing embryo.

In this study, spent culture media from 439 embryos from 114 patients were analyzed. Results of this study showed that Day 5 embryos of similar morphology recorded a wide variation in Viability Scores. The data further show that Day 5 embryos with the best morphology within the cohort had the best Viability Scores in only 26% of the cases, indicating that, in 74% of cases, a different embryo may have been identified for transfer using ViaMetrics-E. The authors concluded that choosing embryos with the best metabolic profiles within a cohort, in addition to morphology, could have a significant impact on the identification of the best embryos for SET.

"Because only one embryo is transferred during a single embryo transfer, identifying the embryo with the greatest reproductive potential is critical," added Sakkas. "The non-invasive assessment of embryo culture using ViaMetrics-E technology can give clinicians greater confidence in identifying embryos with the highest potential for successful implementation, directly supporting the greater adoption of SET."

Results from two other studies presented at the ESHRE conference further demonstrated the role ViaMetrics-E might play in identifying the best embryo for single embryo transfer.

Data presented by Emre Seli, M.D., Associate Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Yale University School of Medicine and Chair of Molecular Biometrics' Scientific Advisory Board, compared the assessment of morphology, Viability Scores produced by ViaMetrics-E and a combination of morphology and Viability Scores in the evaluation of an embryo's reproductive potential (determined by an embryo's positive and negative fetal cardiac activity (FCA) at 12 weeks of gestation). Analysis of 209 spent embryo culture media samples collected following Day 5 SET cycles from five IVF centers in the U.S., Europe and Australia indicated that a ViaMetrics-E Viability Score more accurately predicts embryo implantation rates than does morphology alone. The authors concluded that metabolic assessment of an embryo could yield up to 15% better predictability than morphology alone.

Data presented by Lucy Botros, M.Sc., Molecular Biometrics, assessed the accuracy of ViaMetrics-E in predicting the implantation potential of individual embryos. In an international, multi-center study, 248 spent culture media samples from eight infertility centers in the U.S., Europe and Australia were collected following single embryo transfer on Day 2 (n=176) and Day 5 (n=72). The samples were then evaluated using pre-established algorithms. For both transfer days, as the Viability Score for samples increased -- indicating greater reproductive potential of an individual embryo -- so did the associated pregnancy rate (defined as fetal cardiac activity or FCA). The authors concluded that analysis of spent culture media using ViaMetrics-E can assist in the identification of embryos with the greatest reproductive potential.

Peanuts Forever!

Now, a test to predict successful pregnancy

Scientists have developed a new test to predict which of a woman's eggs are likely to lead to a successful pregnancy.

At present, the only way of deciding which eggs to use in the IVF (In-vitro Fertilisation) process is to examine them through a microscope. This gives doctors little chance of picking up the kind of abnormalities that cause the procedure to fail.

In the ground-breaking trial, conducted by the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, the test accurately predicted whether a woman's egg was normal in 90 percent of cases.

The procedure involves removing waste cells, known as polar bodies, from the egg, which are produced shortly before and after fertilisation, to see if they have the correct number of chromosomes.

If the polar bodies have the correct number, so does the egg and this improves the chance of implanting in the womb and creating a successful pregnancy.

Scientists at the University of Bonn and the Sismer centre in Bologna tested polar bodies from 226 fertilised eggs from 41 women. Only one in four eggs from this group of women was normal.

The test can be completed within 12 to 13 hours, meaning it can fit into a normal cycle of IVF.

Bruce Lee Ping Pong

Air pollution can stop woman getting pregnant through IVF

Excessive exposure to air pollution might increase the chance of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) failure, a new study has found.

A team of fertility experts tested more than 7,000 women undergoing IVF in various American hospitals and analysed the results over seven years - from 2000 to 2007, telegraph.co.uk reported.

Dr Duanping Liao, a professor of epidemiology at Penn State College of Medicine, Pennsylvania, who worked on the research, said: "Numerous studies have consistently shown a relationship between air pollution and human health, ranging from mortality, cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions.

"In the process of searching for the mechanisms responsible for the above associations, we, and others, have reported significant links between air pollution and inflammation and increased blood clotting.

"These intermediate factors are also associated with reproductive health."

Experts say that burning of fossil fuels and diesel are the main causes of nitrogen dioxide production.

The researchers worked out daily pollution concentrations for each patient during the entire IVF process and pregnancy.

Dr Liao added: "Since IVF is a well controlled and highly timed process, we have a much better handle on the assessment of the time of exposures to elevated air pollutants in relationship to fertilisation, pregnancy, and delivery.

"Therefore, the IVF population coupled with detailed assessment of air pollution exposures may provide us an ideal situation to investigate the potential health effects of air quality on human reproduction."

Golf shot of the century!

At the Master’s every year they have a practice round (every tournament does).

The 16th hole is a par three with water from the Tee box all the way to green.

The tradition during the practice round is for the pro’s to try and skip their ball

over the water onto the green.

The one’s who don’t try to skip their ball over the water get booed.

This is a clip of Vijay Singh skipping his ball over the water on Hole #16 during the practice round.

A Great Story In Photos