The struggle and heartbreak of not being able to conceive affects millions of couples worldwide. The good news is recent years have seen significant advancement in treatment options for female infertility that have improved success rates leading to better outcomes.
Here, let us learn in detail about the different innovative treatments for women’s infertility shared by Dr Archana Dhawan Bajaj, Gynecologist, Obstetrician, and IVF Expert, at Nurture IVF Clinic, New Delhi.
Women who don’t ovulate regularly or who ovulate before the egg is fully developed benefit from gonadotropins. By modifying the timing of a woman’s ovulation to guarantee a mature ovum, it cooperates with the pituitary gland. Letrozole is used in the treatment of breast cancer in women after menopause. Letrozole may be especially helpful in assisting women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) to conceive since it reduces the synthesis of estrogen, which in turn affects the pituitary and hypothalamus in connection to ovulation. By causing ovulation in women who do not generate an egg, Clomid also cooperates with the pituitary gland. Improved follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) response in the ovaries as a result of clomid treatment leads to higher live birth rates.
Stem cell treatment is already being used in various fields of medicine where it is proving to be a game-changer. The procedure is a significant advancement in IVF treatment that replaces damaged stem cells in your body are with healthy stem cells extracted from bone marrow or fat tissues. Also called as totipotent stem cells, they have the extraordinary ability to regrow into any type of cell and attach to the area that needs reconstruction and healing. Artificial intelligence (AI) is another trend which is increasingly becoming popular in the field of IVF. This medical advancement with the potential to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns that may not be visible to the naked eye makes them valuable tools for predicting pregnancy outcomes and selecting the most viable embryos for transfer.
Furthermore, by combining with time-lapse imaging (TLI) technology, AI may aid in continuing projections from fertilisation through the blastocyst stage. Embryo growth may be tracked in real-time by using time-lapse imaging. It has also been shown to increase the success rate of IVF by helping to select the finest embryos for transfer thereby increasing the chance of miscarriage.
Other important trends in the field of IVF include assisted hatching, cryopreservation, and peri-implantation genetics. Assisted hatching involves making a small hole in the outer layer of the embryo to assist in hatching and implantation in the uterus. This technique is particularly shown to increase success rates in those with poor embryo quality and advanced maternal age. Robotic technology and nanobots have automated the process of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) allowing real-time analysis of oocyte penetration with the selection of the best sperm or embryo for a particular circumstance. Nanotechnology helps to select the best sperm and send it to the egg where it is implanted to develop a healthy embryo.
Cryopreservation or fertility preservation is becoming popular with patients opting to freeze their eggs, sperm or embryos for future use. The process is particularly useful to preserve a person’s reproductive health because of certain medical conditions. Lastly, preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) help reduce the risk of miscarriage and improve the chances of successful pregnancy. Besides, they are also being used for screening of genetic disorders allowing patients who are carriers of genetic disease to have healthy children.
It goes beyond doubt that infertility treatments have witnessed significant advancements in recent years and continue to evolve.While it is clear that they offer a promising future for those looking at starting a family, however, there is a still lot to learn about these technologies and their impact on fertility treatment.
