We pride ourselves on the use of innovative medical and technical equipment that offers meaningful benefits for our couples who wish to have a child. For example, we cultivate embryos as part of IVF and ICSI treatment using the internationally recognised, state-of-the-art time-lapse incubator system. This enables us to offer you even more personalised treatment to increase your personal chances of conceiving. This means: customised, gentle and risk-minimising measures on your path to fulfilling your dream of having a child.
1. Better observation, better development conditions
The time-lapse incubator is a closed system: each couple undergoing fertility treatment at Fleetinsel Fertility Clinic is given their own incubation chamber, in which an integrated infrared camera documents the entire development process. This means that the embryos do not have to be removed for observation, as is the case with the open system of the conventional incubator. Instead, they can grow in the optimum atmosphere of stable humidity and air and temperature conditions with no disturbing external influences.
2. Embryos with developmental potential can be recognised earlier
With the help of the time-lapse incubator, we can harness the embryos’ morphokinetics, i.e. the dynamics of the development process, for our assessment for the first time. This allows us to recognise whether an embryo is actually viable, i.e. whether it has the potential to implant and lead to a pregnancy.
3. Gentler treatment, higher treatment quality
At Fleetinsel Fertility Clinic, we focus on achieving a particularly high treatment quality as gently as possible. This includes moderate stimulation of the ovaries to produce fewer than ten egg cells. By doing so, we obtain egg cells that offer better development potential. The higher the number, for example over ten, the lower the relative egg cell quality. In addition, possible overstimulation (OHSS – Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome) not only harbours risks for the woman, but also drastically increases the number of chromosomally defective egg cells. This in turn reduces the development potential of later embryos. Depending on the findings and the woman’s age, we need around five to eight high-quality egg cells. If the prognosis for the number of viable egg cells requires it, we will of course adjust the treatment goal and moderately increase the stimulation.
4. Higher pregnancy rate with lower multiple birth rate
We are guided by the “German middle way”, described in Prof Monika Frommel’s interpretation of the Embryo Protection Act (Journal of Reproduction and Endocrinology 2007; 4 (1), 27-33). According to this interpretation, as many egg cells may be developed into an embryo culture as can be expected to result in a maximum of two to three viable embryos. In order to achieve a higher treatment quality and therefore a higher-quality result, our aim is to carry out a Double Embryo Transfer (DET) or Single Embryo Transfer (SET). This allows us to minimise the risks that pose a particular threat to health and therefore also to successful fertility treatment. These include, above all, multiple pregnancies, which mean a significantly higher risk of miscarriage and premature birth, low birth weight and an increased risk of mortality before, during and after birth. The time-lapse method provides us with decisive support in this respect, as we can assess the development potential of the embryos by photographically recording the entire development process of the germ cell. This means that we transfer the embryo or embryos that are actually viable, i.e. that can lead to a pregnancy. More information on how many embryos are transferred is available here. If there are more embryos with development and transfer potential than was expected, these can be vitrified (frozen) on request and transferred to the uterus at a later date in a non-stimulated cycle.