In Contemporary Reproductive Medicine Human Beings are Not Yet Dispensable

Abstract

In the past few years almost every aspect of an IVF cycle has been investigated, including research on sperm, color doppler in follicular studies, prediction of embryo cleavage, prediction of blastocyst formation, scoring blastocyst quality, prediction of euploid blastocysts and live birth from blastocysts, improving the embryo selection process, and for developing deep machine learning (ML) algorithms for optimal IVF stimulation protocols. Also, artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods have been implemented for some clinical aspects of IVF, such as assessing patient reproductive potential and individualizing gonadotropin stimulation protocols. As AI has the inherent capacity to analyze "Big" data, the goal will be to apply AI tools to the analysis of all embryological, clinical, and genetic data to provide patient-tailored individualized treatments. Human skillsets including hand eye coordination to perform an embryo transfer is probably the only step of IVF that is outside the realm of AI & ML today. Embryo transfer success is presently human skill dependent and deep machine learning may one day intrude into this sacred space with the advent of programed humanoid robots. Embryo transfer is arguably the rate limiting step in the sequential events that complete an IVF cycle. Many variables play a role in the success of embryo transfer, including catheter type, atraumatic technique, and the use of sonography guidance before and during the procedure of embryo transfer. In contemporary Reproductive Medicine human beings are not yet dispensable.