Computers beat scientists in choosing best embryos for IVF treatment – Sky News

Researchers are using computers to select embryos for IVF treatment after trials showed the technology was better at selecting successful embryos than scientists.

The computer vision technology is a subfield within artificial intelligence (AI) research.

It was designed by researchers from Sao Paulo State University in Brazil, alongside others from the Boston Place Clinic in London and Dr Cristina Hickman, a scientific adviser to the British Fertility Society.

The team researching the technology believe it could completely change IVF treatments.

It uses computer algorithms which are "trained" to recognise healthy embryos by comparing them with embryos which may not successfully lead to pregnancy.

The researchers say it is able to recognise 24 characteristics of embryos which are invisible to humans: from the size of the embryo to the texture of the image, as well as detailed biological characteristics relating to the number and similarity of cells in the embryo.

Although the study used cattle embryos rather than human ones, it found that the computer regularly outperformed the embryologists.

It used 48 images which were evaluated by the computer vision algorithm and by the embryologists.

Stuart Lavery, director of the Boston Place Clinic, said the technology would not replace examining chromosomes in detail, which is thought to be a key factor in determining which embryos are "normal" or "abnormal".

He said: "Looking at chromosomes does work, but it is expensive and it is invasive to the embryo.

"What we are looking for here is something that can be universal. Instead of a human looking at thousands of images, actually a piece of software looks at them and is capable of learning all the time.

"As we get data about which embryos produce a baby, that data will be fed back into the computer and the computer will learn. What we have found is that the technique is much more consistent than an embryologist, it is more reliable," said Mr Lavery.

"We don't think it will replace genetic screening - we think it will be a complementary to this type of screening," he added.

"Analysis of the embryo won't improve the chances of that particular embryo, but it will help us pick the best one. We won't waste time on treatments that won't work, so the patient should get pregnant quicker."

Mr Lavery said more work was needed to hone the technique, but that he hoped a system would shortly be available for use in a clinical setting.

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Computers beat scientists in choosing best embryos for IVF treatment - Sky News