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What is a blastocyst culture?
Embryo at Day 5 from the day the male gamete(sperms) and female gamete(oocyte) are fused in-vitro (taken as Day 0) is referred to as a blastocyst. Blastocyst have a central, fluid-filled cavity(blastocoel) and two distinct cell types, namely, inner cell mass and trophectoderm. The trophectoderm later forms the placenta while the inner cell mass forms the fetus.
Therefore, growing the embryos from Day 0 to Day 5 in a culture media mimicking the changing environment of the reproductive tract in order to meet the specific requirement of the embryo as it travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus is called Blastocyst culture.
Advantages of blastocyst transfer?
- Helps identify the embryos with limited as well as high developmental ability with the help of their morphological assessment and grading
- The survival rate of embryo after freezing and thawing is par excellence
- High implantation (ability to attach to the uterus) has been reported with blastocyst transfer, further reducing the number of embryos to be transferred
- As the uterine environment is exposed to the effect of hormonal drugs (exogenous gonadotropins) used for stimulation of the ovaries during IVF, therefore blastocyst transfer helps minimize the exposure of embryo to such an environment
- Cleavage-stage embryo (Day 3 embryo) biopsy for PGT can be done without the need for cryopreservation when the biopsied cells(blastomeres) need to be sent to a distant location for analysis
- Trophectoderm biopsy can also be done rather than cleavage-stage biopsy, hence increasing the number of cells (6-10) that can be analyzed
- Finally, it increases the overall efficiency of IVF
- Increased pregnancy outcome
- Makes the process of PGT more efficient
- Improved embryo survival after freezing and thawing
Blastocyst formation rate (Success rate)
Under standard IVF condition, 40% to 60% of embryos progress to blastocyst stage after 5-day culture and they also have a high implantation potential as compared to cleavage-stage embryos (Day 3 embryos).