Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently revolutionised the world of assisted reproduction. The difficult cases that we specialise in at the IVF-Life Group clinics are becoming less complex thanks to this promising tool with a bright future.
Llanos Medrano, IVF Laboratory Director and Chief Embryologist at IVF-Life Alicante, reflects on the use and incorporation of this innovative technology, which has contributed greatly to increasing the pregnancy rate at our clinics, which is already above that of Spain and Europe.
AI is a tool that has evolved rapidly in recent years due to the many benefits it provides to virtually every sector. At IVF-life, the main and ultimate role of AI is to increase our patients’ chances of pregnancy.
As in other areas of medicine, AI allows us to find patterns associated with factors of success or failure. In the future, AI will help us improve cycle yields, make complete and accurate diagnoses, and provide real-time predictions, allowing us to individualise treatment much more than we do today.
Thus far, there has been little use of AI in assisted reproduction treatments. The technologies developed range from optimisation of ovarian stimulation, semen analysis, sperm selection, and embryo selection.
In the case of our laboratories, we have focused on sperm analysis and embryo selection tools. CareMaps-AI is one of the tools that we are beginning to apply and evaluate. This tool was developed over the last decade and aims to improve the accuracy of embryo selection. This means that this tool allows embryologists to determine which embryos have the greatest potential to become a baby.
In our case, the use of AI in embryo selection is used in conjunction with embryo cataloguing to prioritise some embryos over others. For example, embryos with a similar morphology, but inadequate kinetics may have a much lower pregnancy rate than those embryos with optimal kinetics.
We see it as a new tool that is not yet fully developed but which has great potential. That’s why we use AI as an additional selection tool, which complements the embryo classification data observed by the embryologist. Over time, as the supply of appropriate data increases, it will become a mature tool that will allow us to focus solely on the results it provides, but right now, it is still being developed.
We are confident that AI will revolutionise reproductive medicine, just as it has done in other areas of medicine. At IVF-Life, we know that this is a field that will bring us improvements at all levels: it will allow us to improve diagnoses, optimise treatments, and improve embryo selection; all which will lead to an increase in the probability of pregnancy and birth, reducing the necessary waiting time.
As I already mentioned, AI is a tool with a lot of potential. "The ability to analyse thousands of data points to make predictions to improve fertility treatments it is a revolution in itself.
I believe that the application of AI in research and reproductive medicine will allow important discoveries to be made for application in clinical practice. I think it will be a tool that will help us reduce the percentage of idiopathic infertility, that is, of unknown origin; allowing patients suffering from it to receive treatment that will help them achieve pregnancy.
At IVF-Life, we remain committed to advancing the research and development of fertility treatments with this innovative technology to provide our patients with the best reproductive solutions to fulfil their dream of having a family.
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