Peer Reviewed
Women's health
IVF update: latest techniques and advances
Abstract
The techniques used in in vitro fertilisation continue to evolve as we strive to improve success rates while minimising multiple pregnancy. All advances in techniques should undergo adequate scientific scrutiny and unproven therapies be reserved for appropriate clinical trials.
Key Points
The basic concept of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), involving ovarian stimulation, sperm collection, fertilisation and embryo culture in the laboratory, followed by embryo replacement into the uterus, has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in the 1970s. There have been dramatic refinements in the technique, however, which have contributed to the enormous advances in success rates over the past three decades.
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