Innovation
New treatment options at Merrion Fertility
Reciprocal IVF
For some families reciprocal IVF is an important approach to support the creation of their family. It is available for couples who are female, those assigned female at birth and transgender men to participate physically in a pregnancy. It requires IVF treatment, where embryos are created in the lab from the eggs of one partner and donated sperm. The embryo is then transferred to the second partner to carry the pregnancy. The process makes one partner a genetic parent and the second a birth parent. If this is something you are considering, you will find more information here.
Embryo is a type of media that can be used for embryo transfer. It is enriched with a substance called hyaluronan which is thought to support implantation. If you have had a previous embryo transfer with no success, this transfer media might be helpful. More information can be found in our Patient Information leaflet here. Talk to your doctor if you feel this would be of benefit to you.
DNA fragmentation testing looks at DNA carried by the sperm cell to see if it is damaged. The degree of damage can impact the change of having a successful pregnancy. This test may be recommended if a previous treatment cycle has been unsuccessful. Please follow the link to our Patient Information Leaflet, and speak to your doctor if you feel this test would benefit you.
Ongoing Clinical Trials
At Merrion Fertility, we take our commitment to offering our patients the best treatment seriously. Part of this is conducting trails to contribute to the improvement of treatment options.
Physiological ICSI is a type of ICSI. ICSI happens when an embryologist selects sperm individually and injects them into the egg. The physiological part is an extra selection step, before the embryologist makes their choice and is based on the ability of mature sperm to bind to hyaluronan. For more information please follow this link.
The aim of this study is to help us understand how some women’s ovaries age faster, or prematurely, when compared to others. If you are interested in taking part in the research or would like more information please follow this link.
What's on the Horizon?
The introduction of incubators capable of taking images of embryos as they developed, like the embryoscope, has generated vast amounts of data. This data can be linked to outcomes, for example, did the transfer of an embryo result in a healthy live birth. Many companies are trying to find ways AI can help use this data to assist embryologists select the best embryos for transfer.
Thanks in part to the popularity of companies like “23&me” our genes are increasingly at the forefront of our minds. This is particularly true when we consider having a child. Carrier screening allows intending parents to find out if they are carriers for any genetic diseases they would not want to pass on to their children.
PGT P is a genetic test that, like PGT A/M and SR can be carried out on embryos in an IVF lab. Unlike them however, it screens for risk of developing disease linked to multiple genes or polygenic disorders. The link between carrying a specific combination of genes and developing the associated disease is complex, interlinked with environment and lifestyle. For this reason PGT P has not yet been proven to be of sufficient benefit for clinical use.
Platelet rich plasma is when a blood sample is taken from a patient and processed to concentrate the amount of platelets it contains. The platelets are then activated before being returned to the patients uterus with the aim of increasing the potential for an embryo to implant. This research is still at an early stage and much remains to be done before we will know if proves effective.
Rescue in vitro maturation, or R-IVM is a process where embryologists try to “rescue” and mature in the lab, eggs that were immature when collected. Immature eggs are not able to fertilise or develop into healthy embryos. Research is underway to discover if eggs can be safely matured in lab to produce healthy embryos and potentially healthy babies. We will monitor this field with interest.
Do you have a suggestion for a treatment option that may be of benefit our patient’s? If so, please contact us here at innovation@merrionfertility.ie.
