New data is showing an incubator used by a fertility clinic in the central west is resulting in a 12.2 per cent increase in the number of live births compared to other incubators.
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Sarah and David Hodge of Forbes were among the first clients to use the Geri incubator at Genea in Orange's Dudley Private Hospital and as a result they now have a three-year-old daughter Emmi and 18-month-old Layla.
Mrs Hodge said she had two fertilised eggs out of 10 that were collected. "We were lucky to get two live births," she said.
VIDEO: An embryo developing in a Geri incubator...
There are two Geri incubators located at the Genea clinic at Dudley Private Hospital and Genea science director Steven McArthur said they were built and developed by Australian scientists.
He said combined with an updated version of the fluid embryos develop in, a recent study has shown they have resulted in the increase in the number of live births for those who are struggling to conceive.
"The incubator took us around 10 years of development," Mr McArthur said.
"It's probably as close as any incubator in copying what would be the natural environment."
Mr McArthur said the cutting-edge technology allows embryos to grow undisturbed, mirroring the journey in the mother's fallopian tubes prior to implantation.
Available exclusively to patients of Genea, the incubator takes photos of an embryo every five minutes at up to 11 different cross sections, it then collates the images to share detailed time lapse footage on a screen.
Mr McArthur said this allows scientists to review embryos without exposing them to undesirable conditions such as variations in temperature.
In addition, the fluid embryos develop in, known as culture medium, no longer needs changing and can be used across all stages of embryonic growth.
Genea Fertility Specialist Dr Cheryl Phua said traditionally, IVF clinics have used incubators that have more than one patients' embryos in a single chamber with no time lapse camera, meaning the incubator had to be opened every time one patient's embryo needed checking and/or when the medium, needed to be changed.
"The significant reduction in disturbance has led to this boost in live birth rates, an incredible result that is testament to Genea's commitment to increasing the chance of a patient having a baby," she said.
An app also enables parents to see their embryo developing.
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