A new assisted hatching technique using a piezo-micromanipulator.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the efficacy of a new assisted hatching technique using a piezo-micromanipulator to support embryonic implantation.


METHODS
Sibling spare embryos from human cycles of IVF were allocated to either a treated group for assisted hatching by a piezo-micromanipulator or a nontreated control group.


METHODS
The Infertility and IVF unit of the Kyoto University Hospital.


METHODS
Sixty-eight women undergoing conventional IVF treatment.


METHODS
One hundred ten spare 4- or 8-cell embryos from 68 patients undergoing IVF were treated with the new assisted hatching technique, and the results were compared with those obtained for 112 sibling embryos without the treatment. In the assisted hatching procedure, zona thinning combined with drilling was performed by the vibration of a microneedle produced by the piezo-micromanipulator unit.


METHODS
The rates of partial hatching and completely hatched blastocysts.


RESULTS
The rates of hatching and of hatched blastocysts per total developing blastocysts were significantly higher in the treated group (86.7% and 33.3%, respectively) than in the control group (15.3% and 2.8%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrate that the newly devised zona thinning and drilling technique using a piezo-micromanipulator is useful for assisted hatching.
Nakayama
T
T
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
Fujiwara
H
H
Tastumi
K
K
Fujita
K
K
Higuchi
T
T
Mori
T
T
D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015044:Zona Pellucida