by Shannon Fischer and Shabana Sayed

In the last five years, the emergence of commercial time-lapse imaging devices, such as the EmbryoScope, have spurred a new study of human embryo behavior in reproductive medicine. Currently, clinics worldwide are investigating ways to use such tools to better analyze embryo potential and maximize the odds of pregnancy. Klinikk Hausken was the first clinic in Norway to begin experimenting with the EmbryoScope in 2010, and it has since developed an algorithm using time-lapse parameters that has allowed them to achieve a relative increase in live birth rates per embryo transferred by 24%. Research is ongoing to explore the implications and molecular underpinnings of newly observed embryo behaviors throughout the reproductive field.

by Subhamoy Mandal
Multi-Spectral Optoacoustic Tomography (MSOT), a new technique developed based on the principle of multi-wavelength optoacoustics, is capable of high resolution three dimensional (3D) visualizations of molecular probes located deep in scattering living tissues, with resolution and speed representative of ultrasound. This method can …

by Cristian A. Linte and Ziv Yaniv
Minimally invasive interventions are surgical procedures that are conducted through small incisions or natural orifices, under reduced tissue exposure. This approach to medical interventions is motivated by improved outcomes, primarily due to the reduction in trauma to the patient …