Houston, TX – Dr. Dmitri Dozortsev of Advanced Fertility Center of Houston, one of the prominent IVF experts in the world has received a patent for an ENVE holderTM that improves handling of samples after preimplantation embryo biopsy.
It has been 40 years since the birth of the first IVF baby, Eva Brown and since then In Vitro Fertilization has evolved into highly sophisticated area, which brings together preimplantation embryology, medicine and genetic testing of the embryos.
Genetic testing of the embryos, which is usually referred to as PGS – Preimplantation Genetics Screening, helps to identify chromosomally abnormal embryos before implantation. As the result, those embryos which would end up as a miscarriage can be weeded out ahead before transfer into the uterus.
At the center of PGS is embryo biopsy, which is required to obtain a sample from the embryo on day 5 or 6 of in vitro development. The sample is very small, containing just a few cells and has a size of about 20 microns.
Because it is so small, its transfer into the testing tube can be tricky and on occasion it gets lost in a process. Another frequent problem with the biopsy samples is to keep them matched to the embryo they came from. Any mismatch will result in assigning a test result to a wrong embryo.
ENVE holderTM was invented to tackle both of these problems.
“The ENVE holder has the potential to provide simplified sample handling, leading to improved pre-genomic sample handling.“ said Dr. Mark Hughes, MD, PhD, one of the founder of modern PGS.
“We used the prototype twice and loved it. Just a lot easier to hold and view the tube while you add the cells.” shares his initial impression Dr. Mark PD Dow, PhD, HCLD (AAB) Laboratory Director Andrology and IVF Laboratories Reproductive Gynecology Inc. Akron, Westerville, Canton and Canfield, OH.
With more tens of thousands of PGS cases worldwide and growing, ENVE holder may find a lot of appreciative users.
