To fertility and beyond: AI-powered IVF will increase pregnancy success rates

This is the new frontier for fertility.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to help fertility doctors choose the most ideal embryos during in vitro fertilization (IVF) — resulting in more healthy pregnancies.

“IVF is one of the most important medical developments in the last 50 years, but it’s not good enough,” the CEO and co-founder of AIVF, Daniella Gilboa told Fox News Digital. 

“Success rates are about 23% to 25% across all age groups, which means only one in five result in pregnancy,” she added.

Over recent years, there has been more demand for the costly fertility treatment, which can cost upwards of $30,000 for a single cycle, driven by more women freezing their eggs to focus on their careers, Gilboa said.

But the industry can’t seem to keep up.

“In the US, only 20% of the need is served, which means 80% of those women are giving up on the dream of having a child,” the embryologist said.

Israel-based AIVF’s cutting-edge embryo evaluation software (EMA) can detect certain features that contribute to genetic abnormalities, gender or implantation odds.

Those microscopic details, Gilboa said, “can’t be seen with the human eye.”

Without the use of AI, traditional clinicians have been tasked with guessing which embryo will be most viable.

“Imagine if you’re an embryologist, looking at multiple embryos in a hectic lab environment, and you have to decide which one has the best potential to become a baby,” Gilboa continued.

“You might have eight, 10 or 12 embryos that all look the same — and you have to make that crucial decision, sometimes by yourself. It’s basically you and the embryos under the microscope.”

Not only will AI “reduce uncertainties and produce clear, accurate information,” but it will also speed up embryo evaluation. Such efficiency means increasing demands for IVF have the potential to be met.

Clinics that have purchased AIVF’s software have seen a 30% increase in success rates, Gilboa claimed.

“With traditional IVF, it takes an average of three to five treatments to achieve pregnancy — but with AIVF, the average is 1.6 treatments,” she claimed.

The Post has reached out to AIVF for comment.

Gilboa’s team is not alone in their new-age fertility efforts.

Fairtility, a software developing company, has also created a smart assistant dubbed Chloe EQ, which can be utilized in laboratories to choose optimal embryos for IVF success.

The companies’ impressive developments coincide with the rapid growth of AI software around the globe.

ChatGPT’s rise to popularity and shocking artificial intellect took the internet by storm, while the new-age tech has been utilized as a breakthrough tool in healthcare, detecting medical conditions from cavities and gum disease to breast and brain cancers.

Amid fears that AI will drive unemployment, Gilboa assured AIVF’s intention is not to pry jobs away from embryologists, but rather act as an imperative tool for decision-making.

“At the end of the day, the human makes the decision, not the AI,” she said. “It’s just a tool that helps the clinician evaluate the embryos, consult with the patient and provide better IVF care.”

“It’s not ‘humans versus AI’ — it’s ‘humans with AI.’”