The zona pellucida is an important layer surrounding the unfertilized or fertilized egg before and after fertilization. The role zona pellucida plays before fertilization is to ensure that only one sperm can bind to egg and the rest are unable to penetrate the egg. After fertilization, the zona pellucid helps to keep the cells of embryo together and ensures implantation of an embryo in the woman’s womb.
Sometimes zona pellucid layer becomes hard due to certain reasons. As a result of it, an embryo is not able to hatch out and so the embryo is unable to implant in woman womb. In this condition, Infertility Expert performs Assisted Hatching Technique to hatch the embryo before the transfer of embryo into the uteru during IVF procedure.
Assisted Hatching is a laboratory procedure of creating the artificial hole in the zona pellucida. The purpose of this technique is to allow an embryo to implant. Assisted Hatching can be done mechanically, chemically, and by using the laser beam.
Laser Assisted Hatching is a safe procedure whereby a low energy laser beam is used to a create hole in the zone pellucid.
Procedure of Laser Assisted Hatching is:
CREATE HOLE IN EGG OR EMBRYO FOR HATCHING
Laser Assisted hatching can be performed in:
- Women over the age of 37 years
- Patients with elevated follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) on 3 day
- Patients with previously failed IVF / ICSI cycles
- Poor quality or slow developing embryos
- Embryos exhibiting excessive fragmentation
- Women who froze her embryo
- Patients who are suffering from severe endometriosis
- Infertility due to unknown reasons
Pros and cons of Laser Assisted Hatching
Pros | Cons |
It is a safe, fast, and reliable technique. | This is a sophisticated procedure required highly experienced Infertility Expert or Embryologist. |
This technique increases the chances of pregnancy by improving implantation rate. | This technique has a little risk to damage embryo (but no relevant data is present). |
In this technique fewer embryos required to transfer into womb. | This technique is required modernized laboratory which has all facilities to conduct Laser Hatching. |
Laser Assisted Hatching is excellence and successful technique as compared to other Assisted Hatching techniques. The success rate of this technique mainly depends upon the age of a patient, Infertility Expert or Embryologist experience, and laboratory quality. Thus, this procedure should be performed by Certified Infertility Expert or Embryologist in state of the art laboratory.
It’s important to note that hatching is a natural process and any embryo of good quality would hatch and implant in the womb. Hence failure to hatch is an uncommon cause of IVF or implantation failure, except in patients with very thick zona. Modern scientific evidence so far has been unable to substantiate a clinically significant improvement in IVF success rates with or without assisted hatching. Thus it is important to discuss the merits or demerits of hatching in your particular case before jumping to the conclusion that hatching, with its additional cost, would actually benefit your individual case.