Transfer Direct System as a New Method for Embryo Transfer

Brief Summary

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive within a year of unprotected intercourse. Infertility affects one in six couples and represents a public health problem causing feelings of helplessness, depression, and anxiety in both women and men worldwide. Despite the desire to become parents, up to 50% of infertile couples do not seek medical treatment, and 50-60% abandon treatment after two or three failed in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles, even when the procedure is covered by insurance or public health. There are multiple reasons for this discontinuation; however, after removing cost considerations, psychological stress and poor prognoses represent the main reasons for stopping treatment. Clinical infertility treatments are generally ineffective. Success remains poor even with IVF, as evidenced by current live birth rates (LBRs) of only \~30% per initiated cycle. The primary challenge in ART lies mainly in the embryo implantation process, which remains the most significant bottleneck in IVF success, accounting for over 50% of ART failures. Embryo transfer (ET), the final step in IVF, has seen little technological advancement since its inception over four decades ago. The procedure is typically performed transcervically and largely relies in tactile sensation and operator's experience. Although a simple procedure, several potential negative factors may be linked to the low number of IVF pregnancies, including variations in catheter placement, the risk of uterine contractions and lack of control of intrauterine pressure and embryo placement can result in up to 15% of the transferred embryos being inadvertently expelled from the uterus. Therfore, ET's success is highly dependent on non-controllable variables as well as the skill and experience of the operator, resulting in significant inter-operator variability. Premium Fertility team has developed a controlled embryo transfer system - the Transfer Direct System (TDS) - that incorporates a visualization system to guide embryo delivery with the help of a fully automated microfluidic system that avoids initial phases of apposition and adhesion of implantation of human embryos. This technique places the embryo directly in the endometrial tissue, thereby minimizing the effects of embryo expulsion and potentially offering significant advantages such as the ability to visualize the uterine cavity through an endoscope at the time of embryo transfer and control the mechanics of the injection procedure to increase precision.

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