IVF parents able to watch embryo grow using mobile
COUPLES trying to have a child through IVF can now watch their embryo grow using their smartphone.
An mobile app being offered to British patients means they can watch their fertilised eggs in the incubator – all from the comfort of their sofa.
And a study has shown that couples find it reassuring to see the embryo before it is placed in the mother’s womb.
Gynaecologist Dr Federica Moffa of Institut Marques, which offers the app to British patients, said: ‘The Embryomobile app has gone down very well with our patients, as it allows them to get much more involved in the IVF process and helps them to establish an emotional relationship with their future child.
‘The new app offers patients direct insight into what’s happening in the lab, from the comfort of their own home.’
Couples are able to watch the embryo over five days from when it is just one cell –the fertilised egg.
They can see it become four cells on day two, eight to ten on day three, and about 200 cells by day five.
This happens before it is taken from the laboratory dish and implanted into the womb of the mother to grow into a baby.
A study of 400 couples, which will be presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Geneva, found 91 per cent said the app made them calmer.
More than 3,000 patients have already used the mobile app, with 43 per cent of those surveyed checking it more than five times a day to keep an eye on how their embryo is developing.
Professor Geeta Nargund, of Create Fertility, said: ‘Any technology which involves parents more in the process of IVF is welcome and it is interesting to know that some couple are reassured by looking at these images.
‘But there are positives and negatives, and if the development and growth of an embryo does not go as expected, this could cause more stress and upset for the couple who may end up unable to use the embryo they have been monitoring to try to have a baby.’
In response to the criticism, Dr Moffa said patients are always reassured that the embryos are under expert observation in a lab. Men who wait till their 40s slash chances of being a dad – Page 31