Infertility Research
Image by Sarah Pflug

Infertility research priorities have been proposed for 2021. Healthcare professionals, people with fertility problems and infertility researchers (healthcare funders, healthcare providers, healthcare regulators, research funding bodies and researchers) were brought together in an open and transparent process resulting in an article that was published in Human Reproduction in November 2020 outlining the top future infertility-related research priorities. The initial survey was completed by 388 participants from 40 countries, and 423 potential research questions were submitted. Fourteen clinical practice guidelines and 162 Cochrane systematic reviews identified a further 236 potential research questions.

The top 10 infertility research priorities for the four areas of male infertility, female and unexplained infertility, medically assisted reproduction and ethics, access and organization of care for people with fertility problems were identified. These top ten research priorities in each topic area outline the most pressing clinical needs as perceived by healthcare professionals, people with fertility problems and others, to assist research funding organizations and researchers to develop their future research agenda.

Blog Series: Top Ten IVF Research Priorities

The first of the top ten infertility research priorities for medically assisted reproduction is “What are the causes of implantation failure?” In this post we will dissect the various hypotheses, tests, treatments and potential avenues of research. 

The placental paradox

The riskiest moment in any human pregnancy is when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine wall and tries to establish a link between embryo and mother. About half of IVF pregnancies fail during this implantation stage, and we all know how many natural pregnancies end at that time as well.

At some stage in the evolution of animals, we went from mammals that lay eggs, like the monotreme family (the platypus and echidna are the living members of), to marsupials or pouch gestating mammals like kangaroos, koalas and possums, to placental mammals like us. But even among placental mammals NOT all placentas are the same.

For example, in cows there are specific spots of attachment between the fetus and the mother called cotyledons, and this is so different than in humans where we have a total attachment between the placenta and the uterus. That is why you do NOT see cows bleeding out form a uterine rupture or suffering from, for example gestational diabetes or high blood pressure. Their blood supply is just not that connected to the developing fetus. We really see that our complex placenta developed evolutionarily to protect the embryo from our own immune system.

There is a kind of paradox that perplexes researchers of infertility, a mother’s inflammatory reaction to the embryo is the biggest threat to pregnancy, it also seems necessary for the pregnancy to be successful.

Implantation Failure 

Implantation failure or RIF is an imprecisely defined clinical disorder characterized by failure to achieve pregnancy after repeated embryo transfers with genetically normal embryos. multicomponent, bidirectional signaling between the embryo and endometrium. A healthy uterus, free from endometriosis, polyps, fibroids, and with a thick lining is one piece of the puzzle, a euploid, or chromosomally normal embryo is another piece, less than 60% of euploid embryos result in pregnancy.

There are 4 main culprits or areas of active infertility research investigations. The 4 are; progesterone resistance, shifted window of receptivity, decreased integrin expression, and immune system disturbances.

Infertility researchers are identifying all of the biological components involved, developing tests to definitively say if that process is in a disease or abnormal state, and then drug treatments that work!

Progesterone resistance and infertility research

Estrogen stimulates endometrial proliferation, estrogen also causes an increase in progesterone receptor expression, enabling the establishment of the “window of receptivity”. Progestogen is directly responsible for the timing – the opening and closing of the window of receptivity. Endometriosis can actually cause progesterone resistance, disrupting the establishment, and opening or closing of the window.

There is a gene called BCL6 and its expression in the endometrium has been correlated in patients with unexplained or endometriosis-associated infertility. There is a test to see what the activity of this gene is called the Receptiva DX test.

Shifted window of receptivity 

The window of receptivity itself has a molecular signature – meaning certain genes are expressing certain proteins- and this can be determined with a test called the ERA test. Implantation itself is actually a tightly controlled inflammatory response that coordinates the embryo “invasion”.

The embryo is essentially a foreign invader. It is half NOT your own DNA but the partner or sperm source. So the uterine lining and muscular wall must allow invasion by this foreign entity, without alerting your immune system to attack, and establish a vascular blood supply that can support pregnancy.

Decreased integrin expression and infertility research

Integrins are cell to cell adhesion molecules. They are the principal receptors on animal cells for binding most extracellular matrix proteins. They are basically a little ladder that crosses the membranes of both cells, in this case the embryo’s and the uterine endometrium.

Endometrial integrins are key molecules that promote embryo attachment. Right now, we have one good drug candidate to increase integrin expression, called letrozole. Letrozole is known as an “aromatase” inhibitor there is another very common mild aromatase inhibitor – Aspirin! Aromatase, is also called estrogen synthetase or estrogen synthase, because it is an enzyme responsible for a key step in the biosynthesis of estrogens.

There are so many features of embryo implantation that are consistent with the hallmarks of cancer and tumor invasion. In fact, it is often noted that “all the tricks cancer knows, were learned from the embryo”. The tricks here being invading tissue, establishing a blood supply for uncontrolled cell growth, and evading detection by the immune system. There are dozens of drug molecules from the cancer treatment world that can inhibit aromatase.  

The immune system and infertility research

Two immune system components cytokines (which are generally associated with inflammation) and uterine natural killer cells have important roles in successful implantation.

Excessive and altered inflammatory signaling has long been suspected in implantation failure and recurrent pregnancy loss. Natural killer (NK) cells are members of a rapidly expanding family of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). During pregnancy, NK cells are the most abundant lymphocytes in the uterus at the maternal-fetal interface and are involved in placental vascular remodeling. So discovering the complete set of cells and all their functions is still necessary.

We had one good drug molecule called glucocorticoids to investigate – they are a type of corticosteroid hormone that is very effective at reducing inflammation and suppressing the immune system. Glucocorticoids were selected to study, based on the biologic plausibility of restoring a normal immunologic response in the endometrium to promote healthy embryo implantation- however many gold standard clinical trials and meta-analysis of the data have failed to show improvement. For this reason, ASRM guidelines currently recommend against the routine use of glucocorticoids to improve implantation rates. 

But there are dozens of other suspected immune pathways and drug molecules to explore.

Fertility apps are mobile apps that promote wellness, treat and diagnose disease, aid clinical decision-making, and manage patient care from the comfort of home. Patients suffering from infertility might find these apps helpful pre-fertility treatment as they can help to manage lifestyle factors, during treatment to manage medications and calendar appointments, use message boards where they can share experiences, seek or offer peer support, track and chart medical information such as cervical fluid, basal body temperature, and fertility medications and to time intercourse. Could you guess how many fertility awareness apps there are out there? 100! And they have more than 200 million downloads!

Fertility apps are changing the field of reproductive medicine to make it more understandable and easier to manage for patients! We understand that infertility is not easy to navigate and with rapidly developing technology comes some awesome apps that will do all the navigation for you!

ART Compass

ART Compass is a fertility app! It makes the process of IVF so much easier not only for clinics but for patients as well! You are able to view images of your embryos and also view their pre-implantation genetic testing status! All your data is in one place, easily accessible to you the patient! There is no hassle in trying to communicate with your IVF clinic either when you use ART Compass! Fertility apps should all have one goal in common, to make your TTC journey less stressful and complicated and ART Compass does just that!

Natural Cycles the app and the data it’s provided

Harper et. al. looked at over half a million ovulation cycles worth of data collected via the FDA Approved Natural Cycles app to enhance our understanding of the key stages of ovulation. The results demonstrated that few women have that textbook 28-day cycle, with some experiencing very short or very long cycles. The findings show that an average cycle lasts for 29.3 days and only approximately 13% of cycles are 28 days in length! In the entire study, only 65% of women had cycles that lasted between 25 and 30 days. The Natural Cycles app claims to be useful as a hormone-free method of birth control. Some studies have demonstrated a “typical use” failure rate over 13 menstrual cycles of 8.3%.

Further Research

An additional 25 apps out of 140 reviewed (17.9%) contain information or functions specifically related to infertility or its management. High quality infertility applications were noted as allowing users to track fertility medications, symptoms  and results. Additional features include reminders of fertility doctor appointments and when to administer fertility medication, results tracking (including blood type information, sperm counts and blood levels), notes section for tracking of issues for later reference, and ability to track symptoms. Menstrual tracking applications have been consistently assessed for their  functionality and accuracy. This particular research has revealed a downside to fertility apps. In 2016, Moglia et al. scored 108 menstrual tracking  applications, and their primary criterion for ongoing inclusion was accuracy. They concluded “Most free smartphone menstrual cycle tracking apps for patient use are  inaccurate. Few cite medical literature or health professional involvement.”

Updating this analysis in 2019, Zwingerman et. al. Identified 140 menstrual tracking applications, with a low overall app quality score of 32%, and a further thirty-one apps (22.1%) with serious inaccuracies in content, tools, or both. When 218 menstrual tracking apps were assessed in 2016 for their use in preventing unintended pregnancy, over 40% were found to not mention any modern contraceptive methods at all. A systematic review by Mangone et al. found that very few fertility awareness applications have clinically relevant, evidence-based usefulness, and many of them may even increase the likelihood of unintended pregnancy due to the low effectiveness of the contraceptive methods promoted. For this reason, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists only advocates the use of mobile applications to track menstrual cycles, not as a primary tool to prevent or achieve pregnancy.

Additionally, there have been major HIPAA compliance concerns with some fertility tracking apps. These applications often ask for intimate details: sexual activity, history of abortions, cervical mucus consistency, orgasm frequency, preferred sex positions. It was recently reported that the Glow (a pregnancy planning app) app was plagued by a series of security flaws, exposing sensitive  information to anyone who cared to look. It was characterized as a “Jackpot for Stalkers.” They have since added a new section to their website, inviting hackers to “research” security flaws and responsibly report them.

There are clearly many upsides and downsides to fertility apps. This is why it is crucial to choose the right one. You can do so by doing a little research by reading customer reviews for apps and understanding what specific services they provide! And of course, in today’s day and age, privacy is important! So watch out for some apps that don’t seem the most secure! All in all, fertility apps can help you navigate infertility with ease if you choose the right one.

References:

Berglund Scherwitzl, E., et al., Perfect-use and typical-use Pearl Index of a contraceptive mobile app. Contraception, 2017. 96(6): p. 420-425.

Moglia, M.L., et al., Evaluation of Smartphone Menstrual Cycle Tracking Applications Using an Adapted APPLICATIONS Scoring System. Obstet Gynecol, 2016. 127(6): p. 1153-60.

Mangone, E.R., V. Lebrun, and K.E. Muessig, Mobile Phone Apps for the Prevention of Unintended Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 2016. 4(1): p. e6.

Artificial intelligence is often not really associated with reproductive health! We always hear a lot of talk about medicine evolving and incorporating AI into its operations, as we live in a technology-filled world. I’m sure when you’ve heard this the first image that might pop into your head is robots replacing surgeons! However, Scientific American about Artificial Intelligence’s role in treating infertility? How does that work? Well, we’ve got some good news for you. Our CEO Dr. Carol Curchoe and one of our scientific advisory board members, Dr. Charles L. Bormann break it ALL down for you in a Scientific American post titled “What AI Can Do for IVF”! 

vintage-blue-robot-portrait

Image by Matthew Henry

All about the post

Check out the article if you’re interested in what big-name companies have been incorporating AI into fertility treatments, and medicine in general. You can also gain some insight into what stage all of these ideas are in. Scientific progress is not an overnight feat, so it’s important to always stay updated with where discoveries are and how they are doing! As most AI ideas for fertility treatments are in the experimental phase, you might also want to look into what the accuracy rates are looking like right now. Our post covers that too! 

Scientific American

Scientific American about Artificial Intelligence’s is All. Things. Science. It is one of the best ways to stay updated about all the new scientific discoveries and endeavors in our rapid-paced world! It’s not only limited to medicine. SA covers a broad range of fields including biology, chemistry, physics, math, space, and even politics among others!

We are honored that they decided to feature our article about up-and-coming AI strategies in assisted reproduction technology (ART).

We definitely want to help play our part in keeping the scientific community updated! We also want to note, SA doesn’t only have articles and publications but they’ve got podcasts and videos if you’re more into auditory and visual learning! I know I’m more of an auditory learner myself!

The importance of staying updated

Reading the newspaper or watching the news when you can is always important! It is also crucial to do so regarding scientific news regardless of whether you pursue a career in science or not. For example, exciting discoveries in medicine might concern you if they perhaps have to do with a condition a family member is suffering from. Medicine affects every one of us! And that applies to us now more than ever during this Covid-19 pandemic. At ART Compass, we try to play our part in sharing crucial information about infertility that doesn’t really get the spotlight it deserves.

Many people suffering from infertility are misunderstood or not really paid attention to. Their struggle is seen as “dramatic” and because of that, people don’t see the need to share important facts and information about infertility. We’re here to change that. For all the infertility warriors out there-we hear you and we’ve got your back! Always check our blog because we post constantly! And check out Scientific American too while you’re at it to get the latest information on what science is up to!

Reference:

Curchoe. C, Bormann. C, “What Can AI Do for IVF” Scientific American, Jan 2018, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/what-ai-can-do-for-ivf/

Our Message on IVF.net About the Digitalization of Quality Control

We’ve got great news! A post by our CEO Dr. Carol Curchoe was featured on IVF.net! She explains EVERYTHING about how ART Compass has changed the realm of cloud-based quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) for good and how cloud-based laboratory quality management systems are crucial for the development of IVF! A lot of the processes and data that are required to be recorded in IVF quality control are done on paper. Maybe it’s time to digitize a lot of what we do, and to save time and sanity of embryologists. 

ivf quality control

Image by Matthew Henry

Embryology Competency Assessments for IVF Quality Assurance

Dr. Curchoe delves into how staff competency assessments are available for staff to review their knowledge of embryology on a regular basis. This is important because even with a new and improved digitized path It’s always important to make sure that staff have complete knowledge on how to maintain quality control and quality assurance in the IVF lab. They should be able to tell if everything is up to standard and is in good shape for the lab to be a great home for your embryos! 

“ART Compass is a new paradigm— digitizing staff related competency assessments, training documentation, annual procedure evaluations, and real time “in-cycle” embryologist KPI statistics— for 21st century IVF lab QC/QA in “the cloud”.” -Dr. Curchoe

ART Compass and quality control digitalization

So what exactly can ART Compass do digitally? Well our mobile application and the web-based portal technology allows for quick data collection, real-time analysis, management, and distribution of multimedia files, automated reporting and the ability to use device hardware features, such as; the phone’s camera image editing with a finger and a biometric fingerprint data to enhance security!

Endless possibilities

Now it is time to start thinking about the big picture! What is it that can be implemented alongside ART Compass or any other mobile application out there for maximization of quality of patients’ IVF cycles? Electronic witnessing systems using RFID tags, QR codes, barcodes or other image capture approaches, if implemented alongside ART Compass for complete accuracy, can help eliminate the need to record who has done what in the lab by hand. All these data that are collected can then be tied in with the outcome data of that lab.

This way, you can identify what is improving the results of your lab and what is leading in undesirable outcomes. Another realm of possibility is IoT (Internet of Things) sensors. These can be used for real-time monitoring of room temperature humidity volatile organic compounds, and door open count among others and if this is paired with the clinical outcome data collected by ART Compass, you are able to see how these parameters affect the outcomes.

There’s a lot more that Dr. Curchoe explores in terms of the possibilities when it comes to integrating digitized means of data collection and QC and QA. However we do want to share with you a little more about IVF.net!

What is IVF.net?

Good question! IVF.net is basically an embryologist’s paradise or perhaps even for anyone involved in IVF. You can find everything you need in one spot. You can find out about the latest IVF-related news and announcements to stay up-to-date about new developments! Or you can search for new job positions for careers in the IVF world. If you are thinking of placing a new piece of equipment in your lab or clinic, you can find all of the product reviews on their website in one spot.

You have to make sure you have the best of the best machinery equipped in your lab! If you are looking for some new textbook material or resources in general for scientists on IVF, infertility and reproduction, you’ve got it all on IVF.net. IVF.net can also help you find and discover education and embryology course opportunities to help build that resume of yours and start your journey towards a career in reproductive medicine!

Our final thoughts

So whether you’re looking to find a new job in reproductive medicine and IVF or if you’re trying to develop that resume of yours and take a part-time or full-time course in embryology, stop by IVF.net. As per our CEO’s, post on the website let us know what you think about the digitalization of IVF and these new methods that might possibly change the field of IVF and reproductive medicine for good.

IVF is something that requires the utmost precision and accuracy and that is allowed or enabled when there is the highest degree of quality control and quality assurance in the lab. Any of the tiniest mistakes could possibly lead to an unsuccessful pregnancy or undesirable outcome. And that is simply not acceptable when someone’s embryos are in our hands. The times of scattered paper records and confusing data entry systems is long gone. Now it is the time to revolutionize IVF and to make sure that instead of having embryologists pour their energy into QC and QA, risking burnout (something a mobile app could take care of) they can spend more time taking care of your embryos!

BabySentry vs. eIVF by itself is a process that is emotionally and physically draining for a patient. It requires squeezing trips to the clinic during your lunch breaks and agonizing waits after certain procedures.  Choosing the right clinic and the right app is crucial in order to comfortably navigate your IVF journey! 

As for clinics, quality assurance and quality control play a big role in making sure operations run smoothly. There are so many moving parts when it comes to carrying out one IVF cycle. Being able to manage everything in one place would leave less room for error and confusion. So let’s dig a little deeper. Read further to find out what each app offers for doctors, laboratory personnel and patients and what makes each app different from one another.

P.S. These apps are normally made for a wide range of audiences such as doctors, clinical staff, lab directors and patients!  So we’re gonna list the services that we offer with respect to who would find it useful! Because IVF is not a one man job, when everyone’s job is made easier with an app, it reduces error overall and betters the outcome of your cycle!

babysentry vs eivf

Image by Shopify Partners

Art Compass:

Patients:

 Doctors:

Lab Director:

Technologists and Clinical Staff

eIVF:

Doctor:

Lab personnel:

Patients:

Baby Sentry:

Doctors:

Patients:

Lab staff:

IVF Clinic Software

IVF Software

IVF is a procedure that can be genuinely and truly stressful for a patient. It requires making trips to the IVF center during the day and sometimes long waits. Picking the correct REI clinic and the best software application can help make this journey better for both you and your doctor! Choosing an app is difficult so we compared eIVF vs ART compass for you to check out below. These IVF software options are both helpful in different ways.

With respect to IVF centers, quality control and quality assurance are critical parts of making the center run effectively. There are such a significant number of moving parts with regards to doing one IVF cycle. Having the option to oversee everything in one spot means there is a smaller chance of mistakes and lost information. This can mean better success rates. Keep reading to discover what each application offers for medical IVF specialists, the lab workforce, and IVF patients and what makes each application unique.

eIVF:

Doctor:

Lab personnel:

Patients:

Art Compass:

Patients:

 Doctors:

Lab Director:

Technologists and Clinical Staff

eIVF vs. ART Comparison Chart

eIVFART Compass
Patient View Cycle Stats and PGT ResultsNoYes
Doctor Can View Cycle Reports and StatsNoYes
Manages Medical BillingYesNo
IVF Lab QA/QC, Competency AssessmentsNoYes
Secure Messaging Between Lab and DoctorNoYes
Track Pregnancy Rates for LabNoYes
Patient Can View Cryostorage InventoryNoYes
View Scores and Performance Over TimeNoYes
Take Continuing Education TestsNoYes

Overall Comparison

eIVF seems more geared toward the clinic management side of things, while ART Compass is more geared toward connecting the laboratory with the clinic and patient. ART Compass also contains the tools that IVF labs need to track and maintain their education and quality requirements. I hope everything will clear about eIVF vs ART compass.

ivf clinic app

The Best Fertility Apps – According to Fertility Health Professionals

When trying to conceive we think you should definitely consider the aid of some great fertility apps out there to track things like your menstrual cycle and ovulation, and even some that help your doctor help you through the process better. Below is a thorough review of our favorite apps currently available.

Fertility Apps

The Best Fertility Apps – According to Fertility Health Professionals

Deciding to conceive comes with its fair share of concerns and struggles. It can be an overwhelming process, with a multitude of factors to consider. When trying to conceive we think you should definitely consider the aid of some great fertility apps out there to track things like your menstrual cycle and ovulation, and even some that help your doctor help you through the process better. By having everything you need to know about fertility at your fingertips through an app on your phone, you can rest assured that no detail is missed out on. Below is a thorough review of our favorite apps currently available.

Bloomlife – This company offers a contraction monitor, wearables, and other technologies to improve prenatal care. They aim to provide evidence-based solutions to maternal health issues by combining connected devices with data analytics. This can aid in increasing access to care, providing personalized feedback to mothers, and help healthcare professionals to predict and manage pregnancy complications. 

“By addressing modifiable risk factors, detecting abnormalities, and predicting adverse events, Bloomlife aims to ensure every family gets a healthy start.”

Clue⁠ – This is a highly-recommended period tracking app. It is able to provide period, PMS, and ovulation predictions based on recent evidence, a clear history of tracked data with frequent analysis reports and calendar overviews, and in-depth information on personal patterns such as cramps, sleep, and skin.

Ava⁠ – This app in conjunction to a wearable bracelet provides the only FDA-cleared tracking device clinically proven to determine the ovulation window, allowing users to determine their best five days of the month to try to conceive. It works by tracking the 5 physiological signs for fertility as you wear the bracelet in your sleep: skin temperature, heart rate variability ratio, breathing rate, resting pulse rate, and perfusion

Flo – This app is the #1 most downloaded health app in the App Store, and is the #1 period tracking app in the US by active audience. Its key features include a period tracker and ovulation calendar, daily health insights, a health assistance, both pregnancy and non-pregnancy modes, and anonymous chats for the discussion of intimate topics getting support from millions of women worldwide.

Progyny ⁠- This app contains mindfulness exercises and games for those on the fertility journey to destress during the overwhelming process of conception.

Kindara – This fertility tracking app pairs with the intravaginal Priya sensor to pinpoint the fertile window and aid in timing ovulation. The app alone additionally offers cycle charting and connecting with other app users.

Glow – The Glow app is an ovulation and period tracker, keeping record of menstrual cycles and providing in depth analyses of your cycle.

FertilityAnswers⁠ – This app contains frequently asked questions and answers to all your fertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) questions from a healthcare network of reproductive endocrinologists, geneticists, gynecologists, and more.. 

MyFlo – This app is a functional medicine and hormone balancing app for tracking your period and daily symptoms. It notifies and informs you about which phase of your cycle you’re entering, and recommends work, exercise, food, social and romantic activities most compatible with the phase. 

OviaHealth⁠ – This company has several apps, including Ovia Fertility (for period/cycle tracking), Ovia Pregnancy (to track your pregnancy and baby’s growth), and Ovia Parenting (to track your child’s growth and celebrate memories and milestones).

Conceivable⁠ – This is another ovulation tracker that uses information from several data points to help with fertility, providing a “Conceivable Score” to assess how close you are to optimal fertility. Their fertility programs additionally provide recommendations to help build healthy fertile habits and small daily actions.

Peanut⁠ – This app allows women to connect and build communities, providing a safe space for mothers, expectant mothers, and those attempting to conceive to ask questions and find support with a group of women there to listen, share information, and offer advice.

Natural Cycles – This app uses the Natural Cycles thermometer to assess body temperature and determine whether or not you are fertile for the day. It is an FDA-cleared contraceptive app, with no prescription needed. 93% of typical users were not pregnant after one year of use.

ART Compass – ART Compass is the leading app for IVF lab management and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) tracking for your IVF experience. It connects the lab, IVF doctors, and patients.

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IVF Lab Management Software
ART Compass Andrology Competency Assessments will use high definition images from the WHO 6th Edition Laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen.

ART Compass — The world’s first mobile IVF laboratory information management system (LIMS)

For immediate release: ART Compass Partners with WHO— The world’s first mobile IVF laboratory information management system (LIMS) powered by artificial intelligence, announced today that it is partnering with the World Health Organization to deliver educational content for Andrology competency assessments using high definition images from the planned 6th Edition Laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen.

“We are thrilled to be bringing our user’s high definition, high-quality andrology images from the World Health Organization’s 6th Edition. Semen analysis is of paramount importance to study potential male fertility and a couple’s infertility. It is was very important for us to deliver educational and competency assessment content in Andrology from the world’s foremost authority.” ART Compass Founder, Dr. Carol Lynn Curchoe says.

“2/3RDS OF IVF CLINICS ARE STILL USING A PAPER REPORTING SYSTEM.

THERE IS NO INDUSTRY-STANDARD QUALITY CONTROL. HOW CAN PATIENTS AND CLINICS BE CONFIDENT IN THEIR RESULTS?“

About ART Compass:

The IVF industry has a CAGR of 10.2%, resulting in a technology explosion, but a major lag in Quality Control Infrastructure; despite having the highest levels of documentation and reporting required for local, state, and national compliance, of any medical field. These failures cost the industry millions annually, but most important, destroy the dreams of couples desperate to make a family. ART Compass is the world’s first industry QA/QC platform powered by artificial intelligence that puts physicians, administrators, and lab staff on the “same page” as their patients. ART Compass documents IVF staff’s clinical decision making streamlines reporting, automates data analysis, and makes critical information available to all stakeholders.

About the WHO manual:

ART Compass Partners with WHO The sixth edition of the WHO manual will update the information provided in the fifth edition on sperm preparation for clinical use or specialized assays and on cryopreservation, quality control in the semen analysis laboratory, and evidence-based reference ranges and reference limits for various semen characteristics. The methods described are intended to improve the quality of semen analysis and the comparability of results from different laboratories.

Semen analysis may be useful in both clinical and research settings, for investigating male fertility status as well as monitoring spermatogenesis during and following male fertility regulation and other interventions. This manual provides updated, standardized, evidence-based procedures and recommendations for laboratory managers, scientists and technicians to follow in examining human semen in a clinical or research setting. Detailed protocols for routine, optional and research tests are elaborated.

Our IVF Clinic Management Software Approach

Validation Studies 

The ART Compass Approach To Competency Assessment Over 80 competency assessment modules were created for sperm and embryo morphology, quality, viability, and common clinical decision time points in our IVF Clinic Management Software. Validation studies are underway, using images of PAP stained morphology slides for andrology modules, and 112 cleavage stage images captured on EmbryoScope 66 hours post insemination, and 168 blastocyst stage images captured on EmbryoScope 115 and 139 hours post insemination for embryology modules. Each slide was rotated and repeated 3 times throughout the modules to allow for intra-observer variability measurements. This work was presented as an abstract and poster at the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine Conference in New York City, November 17-19, 2018. 

Test Protocol Standardization and Check for Understanding

Rigorously standardized test protocols are essential for meaningful comparisons across multiple sites.  Before each assessment can begin, a standardized and detailed protocol is displayed, followed by a quick “Check for Understanding” module to ensure that test takers understand the instructions and how to take the test. ART Compass is flexible; it can serve standardized specimens to each technologist at each study site simultaneously, allowing even very small IVF clinics to compare individual values to the mean of all technologists, or to technologists in a central laboratory.

Clinical Decision Making  

Embryologists rely on morphological assessments when assessing sperm morphology, sperm quality, and when performing semen analyses and when selecting sperm for Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI).  Once a sperm has been identified for injection, embryologists immobilize the cell by breaking the tail with an ICSI needle. Breaking the cell membrane invokes subsequent physiological and biochemical reactions, which promote decondensation of the sperm head and activation of the oocyte.  Staff is trained to avoid contact with the midpiece region of the sperm as this contains the centriole, which plays a major role in the cleavage patterns of the developing embryo. The location of the immobilization step can be visually determined in The ART Compass Approach To Competency Assessment app.

Additionally, cleavage stage embryo morphological assessments are performed to evaluate embryo quality.  These scores are used to make clinical decisions such as determining the day of transfer (Day 3 vs Day 5), determining the number of embryos to transfer, selecting the top-quality embryo(s) for transfer, as well as determining the final disposition of embryos. ART Compass provides assessments for each of these parameters. 

Blastocyst stage embryo morphological assessments are performed to evaluate embryo quality.  These scores are used to make clinical decisions regarding the number of embryos to transfer, selecting the top-quality embryo(s) for transfer, as well as determining the final disposition of embryos. ART Compass provides assessments for each of these parameters and more.

American Society for Reproductive Medicine – ASRM Celebrating 75 Years of History and Innovation in Philadelphia, October 12-16

Exclusive continuing education content will be made available for American Society for Reproductive Medicine – ASRM 2019 attendees. The hands-on training opportunities offered by EmbryoDirector are complemented by the ART Compass competency assessment and continuing education mobile app platform. 

How does your clinical decision making or subject test knowledge compare to senior IVF industry professionals? Grab a friend or come make new ones, as you sharpen your content knowledge at our interactive exhibit.