AI gives birth to fresh hope against male infertility
The first Australian study of new technology has led to one live birth and five pregnancies in 12 months among 35 couples who would previously be considered infertile.
"These are the most difficult cases that we see at an IVF clinic, so it's very motivating to be able to help people that in a normal world, naturally would never ever be able to have their own children," IVF Australia embryologist Dale Goss told AAP.
"It's great to see translation from a science project, essentially a few years ago, and a proof of concept into something that's delivered in the clinic and actually see a healthy baby boy born."
The NeoGenix Biosciences employee presented the findings from the first AI SpermSearch clinical study to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Paris overnight.
The system works by searching for the best sperm in semen samples taken from biopsies, offering embryologists another tool to select the most appropriate sperm to be used in IVF.
Mr Goss said embryologists could often spend up to six hours looking for enough of the right tiny swimmers but the technology was shown to reduce search times by 75 per cent.
"We found that our reducing the time to search, we were able to get through more samples, find more sperm and give these patients a better chance at having their own biological children," he said.
The technology was given early access approval for research purposes at Sydney-based Virtus Health but Mr Goss hopes it could be approved for wider use across Australia by the end of the year.
About 16 per cent of couples struggle with fertility, according to Family Planning NSW, while 1 in 18 babies in Australia are born through IVF each year.
NSW couple Marcela and Rowan Moon experienced infertility until tests confirmed Mr Moon's semen had no sperm because of a genetic condition.
"When they told us that Rowan was infertile, I thought 'oh my God I can't have a child with Rowan being the father biologically' and then they said 'no, it's not like that, we can still do it'," Ms Moon said.
Mr Moon had a biopsy as a day procedure and doctors took a sample, which was then used to create embryos.
The first transfer was hailed a success and the couple later welcomed son Leo.
"We were so lucky to get Leo first off the bat ... I don't think we really realised the rollercoaster that it was going to be," Mr Moon said.
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