You can’t be serious – sperm-injecting robots in an IVF clinic? Really? Well, yes actually. This happened!
Engineers in Barcelona packed up their invention and took it to the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City. They used their robotic needle to insert sperm cells into eggs — resulting in two healthy embryos and ultimately two baby girls, according to MIT’s Technology Review.
It get’s even more overwhelming – one of the engineers, with no real experience in fertility medicine, used a Sony PlayStation 5 controller to position the robotic needle!! Argh! Eyeing a human egg through a camera, it then moved forward on its own, penetrating the egg and dropping off a single sperm cell. Altogether, the robot was used to fertilise more than a dozen eggs.
Eduard Alba, the student mechanical engineer who commanded the sperm-injecting device said:
“I was calm. In that exact moment, I thought, ‘It’s just one more experiment”.
You can hear embryologists all around the world crying out in despair can’t you!
Santiago Munné, chief geneticist of the Spanish company Overture Life – the startup company that developed the robot, says its device is an initial step toward automating IVF, and potentially making the procedure less expensive and far more common than it is today.
“The technology could one day eliminate the need for patients to visit a fertility clinic, where a single attempt at getting pregnant can cost $20,000 in the US”.
Before we start to panic about the potential loss of our beloved embryologists, we need to stress that while the robotic needle may be used to perform a specific step in the IVF process, the overall procedure still requires the expertise and guidance of a highly trained embryologists. Furthermore, IVF is a highly individualised process that requires careful consideration of each patient’s unique medical history and needs, and robotic technology alone cannot replace the personalised care provided by a skilled medical team.
The sperm injecting robot is not the only start-up aiming to tap into the IVF industry. At least half a dozen other start-ups have similar goals including AutoIVF, IVF 2.0, Conceivable Life Sciences, which aim to tap into the $25 billion IVF industry.
IVF is a rapidly growing market, driven in part by increasing infertility rates and a growing demand for fertility treatments. As a result, there is significant potential for new players to enter the market and offer innovative solutions.
AutoIVF and IVF 2.0, appear to be focused on developing new technologies to improve the efficiency and success rates of IVF procedures. Conceivable Life Sciences, on the other hand, appears to be focused on developing personalised fertility treatments based on genetic and lifestyle factors.
It’s worth noting that the IVF industry is highly regulated, and any new entrants will need to comply with strict safety and quality standards. Additionally, IVF is a complex and expensive procedure that requires highly trained medical professionals, so any new technology or approach will need to be carefully evaluated and tested to ensure its safety and efficacy.
Overall, the emergence of new start-ups in the IVF industry is an exciting development, and it will be interesting to see how these companies innovate and contribute to the field of fertility treatment in the future.
We would love to hear your thoughts, how would you feel if you knew a robot had played a part in your IVF? Would you prefer a robot to the more personalised care of an embryologist? Let us know your thoughts. Drop us a line at info@ivfbabble.com.
