Researchers from UNSW Medicine & Health are investigating whether advanced optical imaging and artificial intelligence could provide a new, non-invasive way to assess egg, sperm and embryo health during IVF.
In an invited review in Human Reproduction, researchers outline how advances in optical imaging, reproductive biology and AI could be combined to offer clinicians a more comprehensive and practical understanding of embryo health than is possible using current assessment methods.
Dr Fabrizzio Horta, senior lecturer in the School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney, said the way reproductive cell health is assessed has remained largely unchanged for decades.
“Currently, embryos are assessed through visual inspection and advanced genetic testing,” said Dr Horta. “But these approaches do not give clinicians a complete picture of an embryo’s biological health, which is what we’re ultimately looking to improve.”
“One thing we’ve learnt during the past few years is that under the right conditions eggs, sperm and embryos can naturally emit faint light signals linked to how they produce energy and respond to biological stressors.
“With new optical technologies, we can detect these signals without adding dyes or labels to sperm, egg and embryos.”
Researchers believe combining these imaging techniques with AI, could lead to the next generation of non-invasive IVF assessment tools.
The resulting imaging data could then be translated into practical clinical outputs, supporting greater confidence in embryo selection and other treatment decisions.
“While technologies are still under research and development, we believe this new layer of biological information could help to identify the eggs and embryos most likely to result in a healthy baby,” Dr Horta said.
If successfully translated into clinical practice, this approach could help to reduce the number of unsuccessful treatments, shorten the time to pregnancy, lower the significant emotional and financial burden on patients, and make IVF more efficient and accessible.
The approach could be particularly valuable for older patients, those with a limited number of remaining eggs or embryos, those who have experienced recurrent implantation failure or pregnancy loss, and patients who cannot or choose not to undergo invasive embryo testing.