Validating Incubators in the Lab: Optimizing Culture and Investigating blasTulation Yield

The proposed study is a prospective, split cohort, randomized controlled trial which seeks to characterize blastocyst formation rates following culture in a benchtop incubator in comparison to a box incubator. Following enrollment, participants will undergo ovarian stimulation and oocyte retrieval per routine as previously consented to at the clinic. IVF stimulation protocol will be at the discretion of the participant's individual provider, per routine. Those participants that develop 4 or more mature oocytes will proceed with randomization. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) will be performed, as well as assisted hatching on day 3 and embryos will be cultured to the blastocyst stage per routine. It is important to note that there are no changes to the routine embryology care itself, the only difference within the study is that the participant's cohort of oocytes will be split into two groups and randomized to placement within each type of incubator (benchtop and conventional box incubator). The participant, physician, and the clinical team will all be blinded to the randomization of the oocytes and subsequent embryos until study completion. All embryologists making any assessments or selecting the embryo for transfer will also be blinded.

Inclusion criteria

for participants:

• Patients undergoing an IVF cycle with plan for subsequent frozen embryo transfer (FET) of a single euploid embryo
• 4 mature oocytes prior to randomization
• Female partners age <42 years old at start of their vaginal oocyte retrieval (VOR) cycle
• Normal ovarian reserve:

• Antimullerian Hormone Level (AMH) ≥ 1.2 ng/mL
• Antral Follicle Count (AFC) ≥ 8
• Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) FSH ≤ 12international units (IU)/L
• Body Mass Index (BMI) <35
• Patients who desire to transfer the best quality embryo for their embryo transfer. However, if a participant ends up electing to transfer based on sex preference after enrollment these outcomes will still be followed and included in the intention to treat analysis.

Exclusion criteria

for participants:

• All patients who do not voluntarily give their written consent for participation
• Patients with a prior failed IVF cycle - defined as no blastocysts
• Patients with a history of more than one failed euploid embryo transfer
• Donor oocyte cycles
• Gestational Carriers
• Male partner with <100,000 total motile spermatozoa per ejaculate (donor sperm is acceptable)
• Use of surgical procedures to obtain sperm
• Communicating hydrosalpinges without a plan for surgical correct prior to frozen embryo transfer
• Endometrial Insufficiency, as defined by a prior cycle with maximal endometrial thickness <6mm,), or persistent endometrial fluid
• Single gene disorders, chromosomal translocations, or any other disorders requiring a more detailed embryo genetic analysis