According to International Committee for Monitoring ART (ICMART) report in 2018, it is estimated that since the birth of Louise Brown – the first IVF baby in the world in 1978, over 8 Million babies have been born from IVF and other advanced fertility treatments around the world.
From being considered a social taboo in the early nineties to wider acceptance of infertility treatments (including surrogacy, sperm, and egg donation) today, the field of reproductive medicine has come a long way.
It is imperative for the general population, especially in the Covid-19 era to understand what are the essential components of a best in a class IVF clinic.
In the IVF process, the sensitive reproductive tissues like eggs, sperm, and embryos are handled outside the body – in the lab. The plastic labware, needles, and catheters with which these life-creating cells are handled shall be sterile, non-embryotoxic, and single-use. The pH of the nutrient supplements in which the reproductive cells are cultured and the temperature of the surfaces shall be maintained at a human body’s physiological levels.
The Air is the Sanctum Sanctorum of an IVF Lab
The environment in the IVF lab, especially the air, plays an important role in creating good quality embryos which result in healthier babies. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that are generated by vehicular traffic, use of disinfectants, furniture, paints, degassing of plastic material, electronic equipment, and human beings are proven to negatively impact the quality of embryos. It is a reality that IVF clinics are at high risk for airborne transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus. Microbial contamination also affects the IVF outcome.
In the days of COVID-19, there is the increased use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, surface disinfectants and PPE kits are all adding to VOCs level. The existing air-cleaning solutions like HEPA air-filters, ionizers, photo-catalytic oxidizers, and UV lights are not sufficient to combat present-day problems in an IVF lab. Disinfecting the air of bacteria, viruses (like Corona), fungi, molds and mainly VOCs without harming the embryos and human beings is the order of the day.
Technologies of sterilizing the air
The air-purification methods are broadly classified as ‘Trap’ and ‘Kill’ technologies. ‘Trap’ methods like HEPA filters, Carbon filters, Ionisers, and Oxidizers only trap the impurities of a certain size, they do not totally eliminate them. There is a chance that smaller particles like viruses and VOCs would get through these filters. There is also a risk of filter colonization after prolonged use. Maintenance of such systems, including energy consumption is high. On the other hand ‘Kill’ technologies like UVGI, Chemical fumigation, and PCO are point-in-time and do not provide continuous protection. Especially for IVF labs, they are harmful, as exposure to UV light, chemicals, and oxidized radicals are detrimental, not just for embryos, but also for human health.
New technology for Air-disinfection
Fortunately, atmospheric cold Plasma-based air-disinfection promises to provide all the advantages of both Kill and Trap technologies mentioned above – without any side effects. This technology, which is known as Nano-Strike actually creates a Plasma field in a contained space inside the device (Plasma is the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid, and gas).
The infected air is pulled in with the help of a fan and goes around the Plasma coils. The multiple concurrent processes like electron bombardment, photon radiation, etching, and osmatic pressure burst the nano-sized pathogens, VOCs, and other impurities in a nanosecond time-frame. Everything happens inside the machine and only sterile air comes out that is safe to be consumed by human beings, and reproductive cells in the IVF lab.
This technology has been independently validated (for bacteria, fungi, VOCs, and viruses like a surrogate of SARS-COV-2) by more than 30 agencies including NASA, and is being used all over the world that includes COVID hospitals in India. Many IVF Clinics in our country have deployed Nano-Strike technology and reported marked improvement in pregnancy rates after using these machines.
During the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), a research paper from an Indian IVF clinic was presented that clearly showed a more than 25% increase in pregnancy rates and improved quality of blastocyst after using Plasma-based Nano-Strike technology in hundreds of patients, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The future of IVF
All the procedures, material, and protocols have been more or less standardized at all the IVF labs, the latest equipment and technologies are accessible to these IVF labs, yet there are limitations in achieving healthier pregnancy rates beyond 40-50%. Providing a pristine and cleanest environment to the embryos all the time would be one of the differentiating factors between an excellent and average IVF clinic in times like these.
