What makes our lab better?
STATE OF THE ART IVF LAB
What makes our lab better?
It starts with Air Quality. Air Quality is the most important factor when building a lab.
The most difficult part of the IVF process is growing embryos in the IVF laboratory. Creating an optimal environment for embryos is extremely important for ensuring embryo viability and maintaining the highest pregnancy rates. Numerous factors, such as air quality, temperature, humidity, levels of essential gases and light, are known to affect eggs and embryos. IVF air quality is often overlooked when setting up an IVF laboratory. New Direction Fertility Centers went to great lengths to ensure the highest possible air quality for the IVF lab.
What worsens IVF air quality?
1. Volatile organic compounds or VOCs are very harmful to embryos. Many studies have documented that small amounts of VOCs in the circulating air of an IVF laboratory can have detrimental effects on pregnancy rates. VOCs are gases that are emitted from a variety of sources found in and near the IVF laboratory. Common source for VOCs, for example include ordinary indoor wall paint, plastics used in test tubes and petri dishes, perfumes, deodorants, and even car exhaust from outside the building.
2. Particles (particulates) including common dust and lint
3. Biologicals such as fungi, mold spores, viruses and bacteria
How does New Direction Fertility keep the air quality in the IVF laboratory so pure and clean?
Most of the surfaces in our IVF laboratory are stainless steel which do not emit VOCs and are easy to clean surfaces which resist the growth of biologicals. Every other surface including the flooring, paint, ceiling tiles, doors was specially selected to have low levels of VOC emission.
New Direction Fertility Centers also features a fully integrated state of the art air filtration system known as the LifeAire system. The LifeAire IVF air purification system combines HEPA filters (to remove particulates), UVC radiation to kill biologicals (without creating harmful ozone) and a one of a kind system for the elimination of VOCs. New Direction Fertility Centers is the only IVF center in Arizona to feature the LifeAire system and one of only fifteen centers nationwide.
3rd party independent testing of the air in the New Direction Fertility Centers' IVF laboratory shortly after completion of construction, when VOC levels would ordinarily be very high - revealed undetectable VOC levels.
Does better IVF air quality actually improve pregnancy rates?
The answer is a resounding YES! Results from a center in Albany found that IVF pregnancy rates were doubled after installation of the LifeAire system. Even a well respected IVF institution converted to a LifeAire system and has had unbelievable improvements over their already amazing pregnancy rates. Early results from New Direction Fertility Centers have been astounding!
Superior IVF Incubators that are Both Advanced and Provide Individual Culture Environment
IVF incubators are the most important piece of equipment in the IVF laboratory. In order to grow embryos in the laboratory, conditions must be absolutely perfect. The IVF incubator provides these conditions. IVF incubators control the temperature, humidity and the concentrations of essential gases: oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
IVF incubators: Background
Early versions of IVF incubators were the size of a washing machine and was lined with several shelves. Embryos from several patients would be stored in the incubator at the same time. This was problematic. Every time the door to the incubator was opened for the embryologist to work with the embryos, the tightly controlled environment inside the incubator would be lost. It would take the incubator an extended period of time to re-establish the correct conditions. During this time, however, the embryos would be exposed to sub-optimal conditions.
Due to the fact that several patients would be kept in the IVF incubator at the same time, the door would be opened and closed numerous times in order to work with all the different embryos when needed. Studies have demonstrated that the more times the IVF incubator door was opened, the lower the pregnancy rates would be for the IVF center.
Older IVF incubators are sometimes referred to as “single gas” or “CO2 incubators” since they only supply CO2 (carbon dioxide). IVF incubators incorporating the newest technologies are referred to “tri-gas” or “low oxygen” IVF incubators. Studies have shown that tri-gas incubators have superior embryo development and improved pregnancy rates compared to older CO2 incubators. The benefit of tri-gas is the gas is already mixed so you can feel comfortable that the embryos are culturing in the best possible environment. Additionally, New Direction Fertility Centers only uses Certified tri-gas that ensures the highest accuracy of the gas mixture, which is critically important to culture environment.
IVF incubators at New Direction Fertility Centers
The philosophy for caring for embryos at New Direction Fertility Centers is simple, provide the best technology and utilize the best protocols for embryo development – regardless of the expense.
New Direction Fertility Centers uses advanced MINC benchtop incubators and PLANER benchtop incubators. These IVF incubators are much smaller than older CO2 incubators, they are about the size of a shoebox. The MINC and PLANER are extremely efficient IVF incubators that significantly reduces the amount of time embryos are exposed to disruptions in temperature and pH levels. If the lid is opened to work with embryos, it takes only three minutes to reestablish optimal conditions in the MINC/PLANER versus nearly two hours in other incubators.
Each IVF incubator at New Direction Fertility Centers is dedicated for one patient couple at a time. This eliminates the problem of opening and closing the incubator door needlessly when working with embryos from other patients and further minimizes any disruption of the environment inside the incubator.