New IVF machine to give infertility treatment in India a facelift

A new machine using the latest technique of ‘metabolomics’ has been installed at the IVF Center of the hospital on Tuesday, to improve the existing anomalies that are associated with the IVF procedure in India.

The latest machine will enable the doctors in transferring single embryos and eliminating the risk of IVF failures.

“Metabolomics will reduce the possibility of multiple births and its related complications because it accurately assesses embryos and their viability and implantation potential,” Dr Hrishikesh Pai, one of the two specialists at the Bloom IVF Center at Lilavati Hospital, said.

The doctor further said, “The availability of metabolic profiling will enable doctors to shift from multiple embryo transfer to single embryo transfer. Also, the treatment would be reasonably priced.”

Help to men with low sperm count
The IVF Center at the hospital will help men who have low sperm count or sperms with inferior quality by using the ‘Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm’ injection that magnifies the sperm image by 7,200 times, allowing the doctors to select the best-available sperm for a fruitful pregnancy.

“Metabolomics will add value to this technique as well,” Dr Rishma Pai, infertility specialist at the IVF Center, Lilavati Hospital said.

No need of transferring multiple embryos in wombs
The new machine will also make it unnecessary for the doctors to insert two-three embryos in the woman’s womb to ensure a successful pregnancy.

Dr Nalini Palshetkar, who assists Dr Hrishikesh Pai informed, "Putting in three embryos could result in multiple pregnancies, higher medical bills and maybe even NICU care for the newborns. But our new machine could help cut down these issues."

Talking about the couples who were opting for the IVF a second time and already had a baby, Dr Pai said, “They already have a baby and don’t want twins or triplets. It could also be useful for patients who have recurrent failure. An analysis could help decide whether the couple need egg donation or surrogacy.”

Critics of the new method
Not all medical experts were confident about the new technique that would be used in IVF. Some felt that it would be more expensive, despite the Lilavati doctors’ claim that this new machine would be cost-effective.

Dr Gautam Allahabadia of Rotunda Clinic in Bandra said, "Viametrics is still in the experimental phase and not yet considered a part of the mainstream medicine. The moot point is that can this expensive machine guarantee an assured pregnancy?"