"Technology" assisted pregnancy——
Explore the intelligent embryo laboratory
For many infertile couples, having a healthy baby through IVF technology is a great boon.
For a long time, the place where IVF is conceived is full of mystery, making people curious.
A reporter from the Economic Daily will take you to one of the most advanced embryo laboratories in this field in my country, and reveal the mystery behind high technology.
IVF technology has been developed for many years.
Last year, my country's first test-tube baby gave birth successfully when she was 31 years old, proving that this technology is very mature.
The so-called test tube baby is the common name of in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer technology. It is a process in which gametes (sperm, egg) are taken out, placed in culture medium to be fertilized, and then the embryos are transferred back to the mother's uterus to develop into a fetus.
This technology has caused a sensation in the world scientific community.
People will inevitably be curious about what happened to the embryo babies in the secret space behind that layer of doors?
"After the pre-in vitro fertilization, we built a luxurious house for the embryos-an incubator in the embryo laboratory. It is as warm, safe and nutritious as a mother's womb, and even the light mimics the feeling in the mother's body. Care for the embryonic baby to mature and mature." Ou Xianghong, director of the Reproductive Medicine Center of the Second People's Hospital of Guangdong Province (hereinafter referred to as "the Second Provincial Hospital"), introduced to reporters.
It is important to note that embryo babies in culture are very fragile, and improper in vitro manipulation can easily cause damage.
In order to maintain a high and stable test-tube baby success rate, the rigorous embryo laboratory of the Second Provincial Medical School has played a key role.
This laboratory prepares the most advanced and stable high-end carbon dioxide incubator for babies, providing a relatively stable in vitro survival and growth environment for gametes and embryos.
For example, stable temperature (37°C), CO2 level (6%), etc., allow embryos to enjoy the same living environment in vitro as the mother.
With a series of high-tech assistance, the Second Provincial Hospital has ensured the safety and reliability of the "house" to the greatest extent.
Among them, the hardest technology is the first paperless real-time management and control system for embryo laboratories in Guangdong Province and the second in the country that they have developed and established.
It is equivalent to an intimate "real-time smart housekeeper", helping parents to take care of the new home where gametes and embryos live.
Do you want to know what mysterious journey the precious gametes and embryos have experienced after entering this "house"?
Let's explore the secrets with the embryo baby.
Prevent mismatches and synthesize "right" embryos
After the sperm and eggs of the expectant parents were taken out, they were sent to a clean and sterile embryo laboratory, and a romantic group date began in a petri dish.
Only those sperm with outstanding appearance and strong body can obtain the favor of eggs, and then freely combine and develop into embryo babies.
In the past, the names of prospective parents could only be manually written on a petri dish.
However, under the dim light of the embryo laboratory, it takes a long time for embryologists to recognize these handwritings.
Now, the Embryo Laboratory of Provincial No. 2 Medical College enters the information of each prospective parent into the computer system, as long as the electronic labels with the names and medical record numbers of both parties are printed in batches, and they are affixed to petri dishes and test tubes.
This system will record and verify each operation step in real time, and directly generate a medical record with relevant data, which greatly reduces the error rate.
When performing manual pairing, once the embryologist takes the wrong sperm and egg sample, the system will sound a "dididi" alarm to remind you to check the information again to prevent mismatches.
In this way, it can be ensured that the sperm and the egg meet the "right" him/her during a date and combine to form a "right" embryo.
Accompanying the whole journey, relying on "real-time intelligent butler"
After the union of sperm and egg, a new life begins the journey of conception.
You know, embryo babies are not grown up in test tubes, but sleep in a separate petri dish like a big bed, placed in a "luxury" incubator.
It’s as safe and comfortable as a mother’s womb. The humidity, pressure, and air quality have to be repeatedly confirmed. Even the lights imitate the feeling in the mother’s womb and stay dim.
During the embryo maturation process, the "real-time intelligent housekeeper"-the paperless real-time management and control system of the embryo laboratory is online throughout the whole process to accompany the embryo baby.
It can carry out the intelligent identification of samples, realize the whole process paperless, and cultivate high-quality embryo babies scientifically and rigorously, which greatly frees the hands of embryologists.
It also uses electronic tags to identify the information of prospective parents and monitors the situation of gametes and embryos in real time through an integrated machine. The entire process is clear and controllable.
Dr. Li Sen, an assistant researcher in the laboratory of the Provincial Second Medical Reproductive Medicine Center, said that embryologists, clinicians, and nurses can complete communication and feedback through the system, and there will be no paper in the whole process, which saves a lot of communication costs and facilitates review. View with traceability.
Under careful care, the embryo baby can be transplanted back to the mother's womb after cultivating for 3 to 5 days, and grow and develop like a naturally conceived embryo.
But sometimes, due to the mother’s health or the number of embryos, the remaining "siblings" will be sent to the liquid nitrogen tank together and frozen at minus 196°C, just like hibernation. , Wait until the right time to be awakened and return to the mother's womb.
So, how to ensure the safety of these embryo babies?
In order to reduce the risk of personnel operation, the Second Provincial Medical School has innovatively added a hard core smart lock to each storage liquid nitrogen tank, and can monitor the temperature in the liquid nitrogen tank in real time, carefully protecting the sleeping environment of the embryo baby.
Whenever the embryo baby needs to be taken out, the embryologist must pass the two-person fingerprint authentication to unlock the liquid nitrogen tank to ensure the safety of the embryo baby in and out.
If the temperature of the liquid nitrogen tank reaches the warning value, the system will immediately notify the laboratory staff on duty so as to check the status of the embryo in real time as soon as possible.
"Sky Eye" is fully covered, avoiding injury to the embryo baby
What if someone wants to steal the embryo baby?
Don't worry, the laboratory is equipped with a two-person fingerprint access control system, and no one can enter the laboratory alone.
Due to the different physiques of each mother, the Provincial Second Medical Reproductive Medicine Center has developed an individualized egg retrieval program in order to obtain the best quality embryos. In addition to routine egg retrieval during the day, it can also be operated at night or other non-working hours.
If an embryologist sends eggs into the laboratory at night, the access control system will send a text message to remind the head of the department to ensure the safe operation of the laboratory at all times.
More rigorously, there are "sky eyes" in every corner of the laboratory, which can help prospective parents "watch over" gametes and embryos.
Even at each operation site, there is a "eyeliner" buried.
In this way, the embryologist can retrospectively analyze each operation step, and the quality of the embryo baby is more assured.
Some people may worry that the house for nurturing embryos is so important, what if the power goes out?
Rest assured, when the embryologist is not in the laboratory, the 24-hour non-stop monitoring and alarm system will be on duty.
In addition to its own alarm system, each incubator in the Provincial Second Medical Reproductive Medicine Center is also equipped with a remote alarm system to provide VIP treatment for each embryo.
Embryologists only need to install an APP on their mobile phones to remotely monitor the status of the embryo baby, check indoor temperature and humidity, incubator gas and temperature, laboratory power failure, liquid nitrogen tank temperature, etc., to ensure that these indicators are maintained within a certain standard range Inside.
Once the embryo baby feels abnormal changes in the house, the system will promptly report to the police and call the relevant personnel to deal with it promptly.
When there is a power failure due to a special reason, all valuable instruments, including all incubators, will automatically start the UPS power supply, which can guarantee continuous power supply for at least a few hours.
The process of nurturing embryo babies is full of mystery and always full of hope of new life.
The team of the Provincial Second Medical Reproductive Medicine Center knows that only by strictly controlling the quality can a stable and high level of success rate be guaranteed.
Therefore, they have carried out a series of almost harsh safety measures to prevent embryonic babies from being injured by the external environment and ensure absolute safety.
"Our innovative paperless real-time management and control system for embryo laboratories and a series of seemingly mysterious high-techs have not only increased the success rate of IVF, but also improved the efficiency of laboratory management, which can be described as two birds with one stone." Said Dr. Jiang Manxi, the head of the laboratory of the Medical Center.
Economic Daily·China Economic Net reporter Zheng Yang, correspondent Huang Yixin