Month: May 2020

Huge trial underway for ‘very promising’ AI tool to boost IVF success

Last modified: June 26, 2020

Australian fertility experts are now testing the technique, which uses artificial intelligence to improve the odds of a successful pregnancy, in the largest trial of its kind in the world.
As part of the international study, led by national fertility provider Virtus Health, 1000 patients will be recruited at five IVF clinics across Australia, alongside sites in Ireland and Denmark.

artificial intelligence

During each IVF cycle, embryos will be grown in an incubator fitted with time-lapse cameras to assess the embryo during the five-day incubation period.
The embryo ranking system was built by training the artificial intelligence using thousands of images where it was known whether the pregnancy was successful or not.
What the AI tool can do is analyze .all the embryos. The embryo with the highest score can then be selected for transfer by the embryologist with the aim of accelerating the chance to a successful pregnancy

Dr Illingworth said the purpose of the study was to determine whether the technology can shorten the time it takes a woman to fall pregnant, ultimately saving aspiring parents thousands of dollars in fertility treatment.

Coronavirus Covid-19 detected in semen

Last modified: July 9, 2020

The novel coronavirus can persist in the semen of men who are recovering following infection, according to a new study.

Covid-19 detected in semen

The preliminary findings of a Chinese study raise the small possibility that the virus could be sexually transmitted.

According to the Authors from The Eighth Medical Center of Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital,  “to avoid contact with the patient’s saliva and blood may not be enough, since the survival of SARS-CoV-2 in a recovering patient’s semen maintains the likelihood to infect others”.

They also added “If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually in future studies, sexual transmission might be a critical part of the prevention of transmission, especially considering the fact that SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the semen of recovering patients”.