SERVICES
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Assisted Hatching |
Most people are familiar with
the fact that most couples who reach the point in an ART cycle
when embryos are transferred to the uterus, will not achieve
a pregnancy. Even when presumably high quality, fertile eggs
are used, such as in egg donation, over half of couples are
still left disappointed each cycle. Since most couples are able
to get eggs and have fertilization, then the question is where
does the failure occur?
The answer
may be in the Implantation Phase. |
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| After a fertilized egg is returned
to the uterus, several things must happen |
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| Normal Semen Analysis |
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It must continue to divide and
grow (it is now called an embryo). |
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The embryo must break out of
the zona pellucida (usually just called the zona) which is a
hard protein shell that surrounds it. |
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The embryo must then burrow
into the lining of the uterus (called the endometrium) and continue
to grow there. |
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It is the published opinion
of some scientists that, pregnancy may fail to occur in some
cases because of an inability of the embryo to break out or
"hatch" from the zona. |
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| According to the theory, there
are some women who are more prone for this to happen. These
include women who |
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| According to WHO a normal semen
analysis includes: |
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are over 40 years old |
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have failed to implant in several
IVF cycles |
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have eggs with very thick zona
when measured under the microscope |
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who have abnormal hormone profiles
indicative of lower quality eggs (elevated FSH levels) |
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| Logically then, if we could
assist those embryos in the hatching process, it might be possible
to increase the chance that implantation and hence successful
pregnancy might occur. And so assisted hatching (AZH) was invented. |
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| There are many different methods
of AZH. At Deccan Fertility Clinic, we use the Saturn Laser
from Resona Instruments Ltd, UK. |
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