Using the Eeva Test™ adjunctively to traditional day 3 morphology is informative for consistent embryo assessment within a panel of embryologists with diverse experience.

PURPOSE: Since many transferred, good morphology embryos fail to implant, technologies to identify embryos with high developmental potential would be beneficial. The Eeva™ (Early Embryo Viability Assessment) Test, a prognostic test based on automated detection and analysis of time-lapse imaging information, has been shown to benefit embryo selection specificity for a panel of three highly experienced embryologists (Conaghan et al., 2013). Here we examined if adjunctive use of Eeva Test results following morphological assessment would allow embryologists with diverse clinical backgrounds to consistently improve the selection of embryos with high developmental potential. METHODS: Prospective, double-blinded multi-center study with 54 patients undergoing blastocyst transfer cycles consented to have embryos imaged using the Eeva System, which automatically measures key cell division timings and categorizes embryos into groups based on developmental potential. Five embryologists of diverse clinical practices, laboratory training, and geographical areas predicted blastocyst formation using day 3 morphology alone and day 3 morphology followed by Eeva Test results. Odds ratio (OR) and diagnostic performance measures were calculated by comparing prediction results to true blastocyst outcomes. RESULTS: When Eeva Test results were used adjunctively to traditional morphology to help predict blastocyst formation among embryos graded good or fair on day 3, the OR was 2.57 (95 % CI=1.88-3.51). The OR using morphology alone was 1.68 (95 % CI=1.29-2.19). Adjunct use of the Eeva Test reduced the variability in prediction performance across all five embryologists: the variability was reduced from a range of 1.06 (OR=1.14 to 2.20) to a range of 0.45 (OR=2.33 to 2.78). CONCLUSIONS: The Eeva Test, an automated, time-lapse enabled prognostic test, used adjunctively with morphology, is informative in helping embryologists with various levels of experience select embryos with high developmental potential.

Assessment of hepatocellular function within PEG hydrogels.

Tissue-engineered therapies for liver failure offer the potential to augment or replace whole organ transplantation; however, fabrication of hepatic tissue poses unique challenges largely stemming from the complexity of liver structure and function. In this study, we illustrate the utility of highly-tunable, photopolymerizable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels for 3D encapsulation of hepatic cells and highlight a range of techniques important for examining hepatocellular function in this platform. Owing to our long-term interest in incorporating proliferative progenitor cell types (e.g. hepatoblasts, oval cells, or cells derived from embryonic stem cells) and maintaining the phenotype of differentiated cells, we explored the behavior of bipotential mouse embryonic liver (BMEL) cells as a model progenitor cell and mature, fully differentiated, primary hepatocytes in this biomaterial system. We demonstrated the importance of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in the survival and function of these cell types, and the capacity to influence encapsulated cell phenotypes through modulation of hydrogel characteristics or gene silencing. Additionally, we demonstrated imaging techniques critical for the in situ assessment of encapsulated hepatocyte function combined with the ability to control cellular organization and overall architecture through microscale patterning technologies. Further analysis of liver progenitor as well as mature hepatocyte processes within the versatile PEG hydrogel platform will aid in the development of tissue engineered implantable liver systems.