What is Time-Lapse Technology?

Time-Lapse is an advanced technology for embryo observation and monitoring. Incubators that incorporate this Time-Lapse technology have the double advantage of keeping embryos in individualized spaces and in more stable and safe culture conditions. In addition, we can perform a detailed and constant monitoring of embryo development, facilitating the selection of the best embryo to transfer.  There is no  need to extract the embryos daily from the incubator to observe them under the microscope as is traditionally done.

Time-Lapse is used today in various fields and its integration in assisted reproduction has been one of the greatest advances in this field. It allows  us to obtain more information about the development and quality of the embryos and select  those with greater potential for implantation. We can therefore improve the success rates of each treatment.

For whom is it?

The use of Time-Lapse is indicated for any patient profile. At Vida Fertility Institute we recommend it in all treatments, since it has many advantages, especially in the following cases:

  • Treatment with Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis.
  • History of IVF without viable embryos on day 5 of development.
  • Poor oocyte or sperm quality.
  • Implantation failure.

What is the Time-Lapse Technology process like?

How does it work ?

After fertilizing the oocytes inside the laboratory, the obtained embryos are introduced into the Time-Lapse incubators where they will remain throughout their development. Thanks to the little high resolution camera these incubators have installed, our embryologists will observe the evolution of each one of them, without having to manipulate them or take them out of the incubators.

With this they get the complete picture of the embryo development, attending to morphokinetic values (morphology and kinetics) of each embryo and collecting the most information to evaluate them during their culture and prioritize the embryo transfer being more efficient in their choice.

Thanks to these individual cameras and the images they provide, since we do not need to open the incubator, we get to achieve very optimal culture conditions that mimic the conditions we would find in the maternal uterus. The embryo does not suffer any additional stress and it has been proven that these conditions allow for a greater number of embryos to reach the blastocyst stage (day 5-6 of embryonic development).