Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

The Immediate Partial Removal of Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes: A Refined Approach for Rapid Observation of In Vitro Fertilization
Published on: October 18, 2024
A prospective randomized sibling-oocyte study of two media systems for culturing cleavage-stage embryos-impact on
Fredwell Hambiliki1, Petra Sandell, Fatma Yaldir
1Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Institutet, 141 86, Stockholm, Sweden.
Purpose:
Although several media systems have been developed, data from prospective randomised clinical studies are still lacking. In the present study we compared the effects of 2 different media systems on embryo morphology and development at days 2/3 using sibling oocytes.
Methods:
In this prospective sibling-split trial, 1206 oocytes from 110 women were divided via alternate allocation to fertilization and culture in media system A (G-IVF (TM) v5 PLUS/ G-1(TM) v5 PLUS) or for fertilization and culture in media system B (Universal IVF medium/EmbryoAssist (TM)).
Results:
The use of media system A significantly increased the normal fertilization rate (73.5% versus 67.2%; p = 0.030) and embryo utilization rate (55.5% versus 42.9%; p = 0.001), whereas polyploidy and embryo quality were similar in the two groups.
Conclusion:
The different impacts on fertilization and early embryo development between the two commercially available and commonly used media systems show the importance of evaluation of the efficacy of existing sequential culture media and the need to further improve media for in vitro development of human embryos.
