A Review on Automatic Analysis of Human Embryo Microscope Images

Abstract

Over the last 30 years the process of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has evolved considerably, yet the efficiency of this treatment remains relatively poor. The principal challenge faced by doctors and embryologists is the identification of the embryo with the greatest potential for producing a child. Current methods of embryo viability assessment provide only a rough guide to potential. In order to improve the odds of a successful pregnancy it is typical to transfer more than one embryo to the uterus. However, this often results in multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets, etc), which are associated with significantly elevated risks of serious complications. If embryo viability could be assessed more accurately, it would be possible to transfer fewer embryos without negatively impacting IVF pregnancy rates. In order to assist with the identification of viable embryos, several scoring systems based on morphological criteria have been developed. However, these mostly rely on a subjective visual analysis. Automated assessment of morphological features offers the possibility of more accurate quantification of key embryo characteristics and elimination of inter- and intra-observer variation. In this paper, we describe the main embryo scoring systems currently in use and review related works on embryo image analysis that could lead to an automatic and precise grading of embryo quality. We summarise achievements, discuss challenges ahead, and point to some possible future directions in this research field.

A quantitative approach to blastocyst quality evaluation: morphometric analysis and related IVF outcomes

“…Quantitative analysis of embryo morphology could limit possible operator-dependent variability [11]. Actually, there is paucity of publications concerning automatic image analysis of human embryos [9,10,15], particularly at the blastocyst stage [17][18][19]. Hence the aim of our study was to establish a feasible and routinely applicable morphometric system to choose the most viable embryo to transfer.…”

“…While automated image analysis of cleavage stage human embryos (Day 1 to 3 post-fertilization) has been the subject of several studies investigating cleavage stage embryos parameters as cell number, symmetry, multinucleation, fragmentation [14][15][16][17][18], few attempts at semi-automatic objective evaluation of the rather complex blastocyst structure have previously been made [19,20].…”

Methods for Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Embryo Cleavage In Vitro

“…Often, an initial analytical step is the identiication of cell outlines in images. There are several ways to detect and track cell outlines in embryo imaging, both segmentation-based (requiring an identiication of embryonic cell outlines), segmentation-free [52][53][54][55], or a combination of these [56]. Usually, a correctly performed segmentation [54,[57][58][59] provides the most detailed information on cell position, shape, and outline, but is computationally also the more challenging.…”

Non-Invasive Prediction of Blastocyst Formation by Day Three Embryo Culture Medium Mass Spectrometry Lipid Fingerprinting

“…However, it has been suggested that embryo morphology is insufficient for predicting successful implantation (Katz-Jaffe et al, 2009;Assou et al, 2011;Mastenbroek et al, 2011). In addition, this method is highly subjective (Paternot et al, 2009;Filho et al, 2010). Prolonging the embryo culture period allows for a better selection of embryos for transfer because laboratory assessment is performed after the embryonic genome has begun to be expressed (Tesarik et al, 1988).…”