IVF gets an AI boost
As doctors deal with overwhelming demand for fertility services, AI tools are offering new ways to help streamline the IVF process, Axios’ Carly Mallenbaum reports.
What’s happening: Several new health tech companies are leveraging AI to make IVF treatment suggestions drawn from data, particularly in two areas: ovary stimulation and embryo selection.
With ovarian-stimulating hormones, AI is working to predict the lowest dose that will lead to the most eggs extracted.
- Such estimates are based on prior patients with similar characteristics to a new patient, says fertility doctor Eduardo Hariton, a medical adviser for several AI companies.
- That could help lower patients’ expenses. Ovarian-stimulating hormones can cost $2,000-$5,000 per cycle, Hariton says.
With embryo selection, AI tools could help identify high-quality embryos without requiring a biopsy and genetic tests.
- Machine learning-fueled algorithms can offer suggestions based on patient data, plus factors like how embryos look under a microscope and the speed at which they’re developing, says fertility doctor Lucky Sekhon, who’s been involved with studies on AI’s use in IVF.
Yes, but: AI could perpetuate biases that already exist in the medical data, “so we have to be really thoughtful with how we apply these models,” Hariton says.
- Another potential concern: The FDA doesn’t regulate evolving AI algorithms — yet.
