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Making IVF accessible for all

Date

Professor Helen Picton and Dr Virginia Pensabene

Globally, one in six couples will face fertility issues, yet IVF success rates are only 25-30% in women aged under 35. This is due in part to limitations of the embryo culture process, which typically involves repetitive handling, subjective selection of the best embryo and the expense of highly skilled operators.

University of Leeds spinout IVFmicro has received a £3.5m investment that will improve outcomes for patients undergoing fertility treatment. The company, co-founded in 2018 by Dr Virginia Pensabene and Professor Helen Picton, has developed a microfluidic device that enhances the quality and number of embryos in an IVF treatment cycle.

The pre-seed funding is led by Northern Gritstone with support from Innovate UK Investor Partnerships Programme, and will be used by IVFmicro for its next verification and validation phase, leading to trials on human embryos in fertility clinics.

At IVFmicro, we are harnessing years of research into reproductive biology to create a practical, accessible solution that can improve outcomes for patients undergoing fertility treatment. Our goal is to make IVF more effective, more predictable, and ultimately more hopeful for those striving to start a family.

— Professor Helen Picton

Read the research news Watch the video summary (YouTube)

Impact

  • Health impact: translating medical and engineering research into a solution for patients facing difficulties with fertility
  • Improves the likelihood of pregnancy in IVF by improving embryo quality by 10-15%.

Key information

  • Major funders: Northern Gritstone, Innovate UK Investor Partnerships Programme, UKRI Impact Acceleration Account
  • Partners and collaborators: Bragg Centre for Materials Research, NG Studios programme, KQ Labs, The Francis Crick Institute, Northern Gritstone
  • Disciplines: biomedical engineering, medicine and health, fertility
  • Investigators: Dr Virginia Pensabene, Professor Helen Picton.

Keywords: in vitro fertilisation, IVF, fertility, female health, women's health, pregnancy, conception, microfluidic device, health engineering, medical engineering, healthtech, health technology, embryos, reproductive biology, embryology, biomedical engineering, fertility preservation, assisted reproductive technology, organs-on-chip, microtechnology in medicine

This project was sponsored by the UKRI Impact Acceleration Account.