Effect of micro-environment maintenance on embryo culture after in-vitro fertilization: comparison of top-load mini incubator and conventional front-load incubator

• DOI: 10.1007/s10815-006-9088-3
• Publication Date: 2006-12-12T10:38:01Z
• Authors: Mutsuko Fujiwara; Kentaro Takahashi; Mika Izuno; Ya Ru Duan; Maya Kazono; Fuminori Kimura; Yoichi Noda
• Keywords: Embryo Culture Techniques; Oxygen; 0301 basic medicine; Incubators; 03 medical and health sciences; Time Factors; Temperature; Embryonic Development; Humans; Fertilization in Vitro

To investigate the effect of microenvironment maintenance on embryo culture and clinical results using two types of incubators.Temperature and oxygen concentration in a mini-incubator and a conventional incubator were compared following a 5-s door opening/closing procedure. Embryos of 30 in-vitro fertilization embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cases were randomly allocated to either one of the incubator, cultured, and the early-stage good embryo formation rate and the good blastocyst formation rate were compared, as indicators for micro-environment maintenance ability.Temperature recovery after a 5-s door opening/closing procedure was approximately 5 min for the mini-incubator and 30 min for the conventional incubator. The oxygen concentration return was significantly improved in the mini-incubator (3.0 +/- 0 min) compared with the conventional incubator (7.8 +/- 0.9 min). Both the early-stage good embryo formation rate and the good blastocyst formation rate were significantly higher in the mini-incubator (39.5% and 15.1%) than the conventional incubator (28.4% and 7.8%).The microenvironment maintenance ability of incubators appears to significantly influence the formation of good embryos.