NIH awards Illinois $2.5M to improve IVF with advanced microscopy
A multidisciplinary collaboration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has received a $2.5 million award from the National Institutes of Health to develop technology for assessing embryo viability for in vitro fertilization.
The project will combine the microscopy and artificial intelligence expertise of Illinois Grainger Engineering electrical and computer engineering research assistant professor Haohua Tu and associate professor Alexander Gerhard Schwing, respectively, with the embryo production and developmental biology expertise of Illinois animal sciences professor Matthew Wheeler. Researchers will combine the “gentle,” label-free microscopy designed to minimize tissue damage developed by Tu with artificial intelligence developed by Schwing to analyze bovine embryos produced by Wheeler and predict viability rates when transferred in utero.
“The idea of the NIH grant is using this microscopy technique to improve in vitro fertilization, since it could allow embryo viability to be assessed before it is implanted,” Wheeler said. “We’re going to use it to study embryos implanted in cows – a good model species for human pregnancy – and see if it can predict which fetuses come to term. If successful, it would be very promising for human IVF.”