“The model is not designed for direct use by couples seeking fertility assistance, especially because some of the information required to use the model is technical and not available to the lay public.”
“It has been difficult to predict whether pregnancy will be achieved for couples when different factors are at play. We designed this computational model to help the physician who is planning IVF/ICSI for patients. The physician may use the model to plan the best approach and counsel the patients appropriately.”
“All things being equal, the younger a female is, the higher the chances for fertilization and a successful pregnancy. On the other hand, if that particular female's partner has bad sperm parameters, then the chances might not be as good. The model takes into consideration both the woman's and man's factors and integrates all the various parameters to give a certain prediction.”
“When we use fresh sperm, the surgical procedures for the sperm retrieval and egg retrieval need to be done the same day, and this may not be convenient for the couple. However, if we use frozen sperm, the man can have his procedure first, and if we find sperm, we can bank it. Then, at the couple's convenience we do egg retrieval and the fertilization procedure that puts the egg and sperm together. The model helps us know in advance when frozen sperm would allow for good results for that couple.”
