{"id":43628,"date":"2022-06-28T14:13:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T18:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=43628"},"modified":"2022-06-28T14:13:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T18:13:57","slug":"ai-image-analysis-shown-to-predict-embryo-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=43628","title":{"rendered":"AI Image Analysis Shown to Predict Embryo Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"IVF<\/a>
In-vitro fertilization (Elena Kontogianni, Pixabay. https:\/\/pixabay.com\/photos\/ivf-fertility-infertility-1514174\/)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

28 June 2022. An algorithm designed to analyze microscopic images is shown to largely predict the genetic integrity of embryos from in-vitro fertilization. Findings from a study evaluating the technology developed by Presagen<\/a>, an artificial intelligence health analytics company in San Francisco, appear in the 8 June issue of the journal Human Reproduction<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Presagen creates analytics based on A.I. to address women’s health<\/a>. The company says it collaborates with clinics worldwide to design its algorithms, for analytics that represent a wide range of races and ethnic groups, as well as identify potential errors early in their development. For embryo health algorithms, Presagen established Life Whisperer<\/a>, a subsidiary that works with in-vitro fertilization or IVF clinics to analyze images of early embryos for viability to find the healthiest candidates for implantation. Life Whisperer says it offers a cloud-based service that captures data and returns results quickly to IVF clinics worldwide.<\/p>\n

One of the Life Whisperer algorithms analyzes a blastocyst<\/a> formed a few days after fertilization for chromosome abnormalities. A healthy blastocyst has 46 chromosomes indicating normal genetic development, but those with different numbers, called an aneuploid, indicate a greater chance for developing into a genetic disorder. The current method for discovering genetic abnormality in a blastocyst is the pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy or PGT-A test<\/a>. That test uses a biopsy to take a tiny sample of cells from a blastocyst for genetic analysis. Presagen says PGT-A tests are invasive and risky to the developing embryo, with additional high costs for genetic testing.<\/p>\n

Correlated algorithm to PGT-A results<\/h4>\n

A team from Presagen developed the Life Whisperer algorithm trained with blastocyst images collected from 10 IVF clinics in the U.S., Spain, India, and Malaysia. Some 5,050 microscopic blastocyst-stage embryo images at day five of development were selected from a pool of more than 15,000 images to train the algorithm. The microscopic images were also linked to PGT-A genetic test metadata. The researchers correlated analytics from the algorithm with PGT-A test results, looking for accuracy in predicting a genetically healthy blastocyst called a euploid, or an aneuploid, a genetically abnormal blastocyst.<\/p>\n

The findings show the Life Whisperer algorithm accurately predicted euploid status 77 percent of the time in a blind-test data set, following removal of poor-quality or mislabeled images. In addition, the researchers found a high probability, from 82 to 97 percent, of an embryo with a high score from the A.I. algorithm also being a euploid, with the rank-order of algorithms scores about 26 percent higher than from random ranking. Further analysis shows results from the algorithm generalized well to patient demographics, and could also detect mosaic embryos<\/a>, where mistakes in cell division occur, leading to miscarriages or birth defects.<\/p>\n

Sonya Diakiw<\/a>, Presagen’s chief medical scientist and lead author of the paper, notes in a company statement<\/a> that the Life Whisperer algorithm will not likely replace the PGT-A test, but can still be a valuable tool for IVF decisions. “Because this assessment is based on images alone,” says Diakiw, “it is not as accurate as PGT-A itself, which involves actual DNA sequencing.” Diakiw adds however, “PGT-A only tests five cells from a total of around 200, so it is not always representative of the entire embryo. Life Whisperer genetics is a whole-embryo assessment of genetic integrity that does not require any invasive procedures, which can be used to prioritize embryos for use in IVF procedures.”<\/p>\n

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