To Fertility and Beyond: AI-powered IVF will boost pregnancy success rates

Health

From Brooke Kato

July 12, 2023 | 4:03 pm

This is the new frontier of fertility.

AI has the potential to help fertility doctors choose the most ideal embryos during IVF, resulting in healthier pregnancies.

IVF is one of the most important medical developments of the past 50 years, but it’s not good enough, AIVF CEO and co-founder Daniella Gilboa told Fox News Digital.

Success rates range from about 23% to 25% across all age groups, meaning only one in five becomes pregnant, she added.

In recent years, there has been increased demand for the expensive fertility treatment, which can cost up to $30,000 for a single cycle, prompted by more women freezing their eggs to focus on their careers, Gilboa said.

But the industry can’t keep up.

Only 20 percent of the need is met in the United States, meaning 80 percent of those women are giving up on the dream of having a child, the embryologist said.

The Israel-based AIVF’s state-of-the-art embryo evaluation software can detect certain characteristics that contribute to genetic abnormalities, gender, or chances of implantation.

Those microscopic details, Gilboa said, can’t be seen with the human eye.

Without the use of artificial intelligence, traditional doctors have been tasked with guessing which embryo will be most viable.

Imagine being an embryologist, looking at multiple embryos in a busy lab environment and having to decide which one has the best potential to become a baby, Gilboa continued.

You may have eight, 10 or 12 embryos that all look the same and you have to make that crucial decision, sometimes on your own. It is basically you and the embryos under the microscope.

Artificial intelligence will not only reduce uncertainties and produce clear and accurate information, but it will also speed up the assessment of embryos. Such efficiency means that the growing demands for IVF have the potential to be met.

Clinics that have purchased the AIVF software have seen a 30 percent increase in success rates, Gilboa said.

With traditional IVF, three to five treatments are needed on average to achieve a pregnancy, but with IVF, the average is 1.6 treatments, she said.

The Post has contacted the AIVF for comment.

Gilboas’ team isn’t alone in its new-age fertility efforts.

Fairtility, a software development company, has also created an intelligent assistant called Chloe EQ, which can be used in laboratories to choose optimal embryos for successful IVF.

The company’s dramatic developments coincide with the rapid growth of AI software worldwide.

ChatGPTs have become popular and the shocking artificial intellect has taken the internet by storm, while new-age technology has been used as a revolutionary tool in the healthcare industry, detecting medical conditions from tooth decay and gum disease to breast and brain cancer.

Amid fears that artificial intelligence could lead to unemployment, Gilboa assured that the AIVF’s intention is not to take jobs away from embryologists, but rather to act as an imperative tool for decision-making.

At the end of the day, the human makes the decision, not the AI, he said. It is just a tool that helps the doctor evaluate the embryos, consult the patient and provide better IVF care.

It’s not humans versus AI, it’s humans versus AI.’