Vitrification: a new cost-effective technique for embryo & oocyte cryopreservation
Vitrification, first successfully conducted in humans in Japan, is a technique where the embryos are mixed with a freezing media and suddenly plunged into liquid nitrogen. The high concentration of the special anti-freeze and rapid drop in temperature prevents the water inside the cell from turning into ice. Due to this sudden drop in temperature the entire embryo is turned into a glass-like state, thus avoiding the formation of ice crystals which are known to damage the embryo.
This new technique has generated a lot of excitement over the last couple of years worldwide. Many Indian centers too have started trying this technique.
Mrs SK, a 39 yr old and her 42 yr old husband cannot contain their excitement when they look at their little bundle of joy. Their little son is no less than a miracle to them.
For 19 years they had tried just about every medical and even a number of non medical techniques to fulfill this dream. They had given up all hope till about a year back they were directed to Oosite IVF, a test tube baby clinic located in Pune camp.
Dr Rajesh Balkrishna who heads Oosite IVF says “When this patient came to us, we realized that a frozen donated embryo was the only alternative for this couple given their age and financial constraints. We had some donated embryos that we had previously frozen using a new technique called vitrification. We explained the situation to the couple who readily agreed to undergo the procedure.”
Mr Shrikant Yatnale, chief embryologist, explains “We needed to modify the technique slightly in order to achieve the result. This is our first success using vitrification for embryo cryopreservation.
With this success, Indian IVF centres have proved that they are at par with centers all over the world”
