Alife Health (“Alife”), a fertility technology company building AI tools to advance in-vitro fertilization (IVF), announced today that it has partnered with Ovation® Fertility (“Ovation”), a US Fertility company and national network of laboratories to pilot the world’s first embryo image cataloging software. This software could enable future AI-powered embryo selection. Alife’s Embryo Assist™ software enables embryologists to seamlessly create digital records of every embryo, with the added benefit of leveraging Alife's Clinical Decision Support (CDS) algorithm to determine the best embryo for transfer.

“At Ovation, we strive to discover and leverage the most state-of-the-art technologies available to us in order to better improve patient outcomes,” says Matthew “Tex” VerMilyea, PhD, HCLD/CC, vice president of scientific advancement at Ovation. “The Alife Embryo Assist software provides our laboratories with a structured digital approach to a rather manual and cumbersome process. I believe that by implementing Alife’s technology, we will see an improvement in lab efficiency and performance, which ultimately will help our network provide the best possible outcomes for every individual hoping to grow their family.”

The Embryo Assist software is microscope- and EMR-integrated, allowing embryologists to easily capture images of each embryo and streamline the embryo reporting process by eliminating the need to manually transcribe information between systems. Alife expects this tool to elevate laboratory quality-control measures by providing an activity and audit trail for every embryo, viewable in real-time.

The software also boasts an AI embryo ranking feature, which utilizes machine learning to help embryologists determine which embryos have the highest likelihood of success. Earlier this fall, Dr. VerMilyea and Alife co-authored an award-nominated scientific abstract based on a retrospective analysis of 12,626 IVF cycles, which demonstrated that Alife’s model had non-inferior performance to manual embryo grading by five highly experienced embryologists. This implies that the machine learning model can offer laboratories a new level of standardization for embryo selection, especially in cases where embryologists might vary in selecting the top embryo for transfer, which occurred in up to 44% of the cases presented during the study. Upon successful completion of regulatory approval, the embryo ranking feature will be available for future use in clinical decision making.

“We're thrilled to join forces with Ovation, a leading laboratory network in the country, to showcase the transformative impact of Alife's technology,” says Paxton Maeder-York, CEO and founder of Alife. “Through this partnership, we aim to demonstrate how Alife's advanced technology, powered by AI, can not only optimize clinic workflow, but also set a new standard in the precision and consistency of embryo selection. We look forward to contributing to Ovation's commitment to excellence in fertility care.”