Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 15, 2026
Modified MicroSecure Vitrification: A Safe, Simple and Highly Effective Cryopreservation Procedure for Human Blastocysts
Published on: March 2, 2017
A modified embryo cryopreservation method increases post-thaw survival with a concomitant increase in implantation
Suresh Kattera1, Christopher Chen
1Centre for Reproductive Medicine and Gleneagles IVF Centre, Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore. suresh@cccrm.com
Objective:
To achieve maximum post-thaw survival of frozen embryos.
Design:
Historical controlled study.
Setting:
Hospital-based fertility center.
Patient(S):
One hundred forty-five patients whose embryos were frozen and thawed according to the standard method, and 56 patients whose embryos were frozen and thawed according to a modified method.
Intervention(S):
Modifications were made to the various steps of cryopreservation: freezing and thawing solutions, loading of embryos into the straws, and warming rates.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Post-thaw survival, implantation, and pregnancy rates.
Result(S):
With the modified method, 138 (93%) of the 149 embryos thawed for 56 patients survived freezing, and 79.8% had all their blastomeres intact, which is almost double the result obtained (41.8%) for patients whose embryos were thawed with the standard method. The implantation and pregnancy rates were also significantly higher with the modified method compared with the standard method.
Conclusion(S):
Greater post-thaw embryo survival was achieved, with a concomitant increase in implantation and pregnancy rates, by modifying the various steps in the standard cryopreservation methodology. This has important implications in IVF practice.
