MedWire News: US researchers have developed a novel non-invasive test for embryo viability, based on studying the metabolomic profile of embryos in culture, which may be more accurate than current tests.

Current embryo assessment strategies rely largely on morphology and cleavage rate to identify embryos that are most likely to implant. “It’s a guessing game that can end in IVF failure or multiple pregnancies,” commented lead study researcher Emre Seli (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut).

Seli and colleagues performed the study in four IVF centers in France, Finland, Sweden, and Australia. A total of 176 spent embryo culture media samples were collected following single embryo transfer on day 2.

The researchers used near infrared spectroscopy with a wavelength-specific genetic algorithm to generate an embryo viability score for each sample based on its metabolomic profile—the unique chemical fingerprint that results from the metabolic activity of embryos in culture.

Viability scores of embryos that resulted in pregnancy were significantly higher compared with embryos that failed to implant, at 0.60 versus 0.53. Furthermore, increasing viability index values were positively correlated with the reproductive potential of individual embryos.

Commenting on the research results, Seli concluded: “These findings have important implications for the more than 125,000 IVF cycles performed yearly in the USA.

“The high multiple pregnancy rates associated with IVF have significant public health consequences, such as decreased survival and increased risk for lifelong disability associated with severe prematurity.”

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