Smarter data analysis strategies will improve infertility treatment in the future

"Scientists from Tartu have discovered a simple way how to improve infertility treatment in the future. The results of the study, published in Human Reproduction, a top journal in the field, can be used in precision medicine to account for the variability in each female patient's menstrual cycle. This personalised approach will first and foremost benefit those couples, who have experienced repeated IVF failure.

In 2017, more than 2800 in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures were carried out in Estonia, resulting in the birth of 430 babies, which accounts for 3% of all births. The low 15% success rate of IVF can be caused by problems in several stages of the treatment. One of such stages is embryo implantation, which marks the beginning of the pregnancy. However, if the embryo is transferred into the uterus on the wrong day, even the best embryos cannot overcome this, resulting in a negative pregnancy test.

The task of the infertility treatment specialist is to recommend the best treatment for each patient. Female infertility can be caused by problems with endometrial (the inner uterine lining) receptivity. While in natural conception the developing embryo can "sit and wait" until the endometrium matures to peak receptivity, in IVF treatment it is of utmost importance to transfer the embryo on the correct day to increase the chances of pregnancy. Different methods are used to assess endometrial receptivity, the most accurate of which is a test measuring the expression patterns of different genes in an endometrial biopsy..." | Learn More >>