"Robot injects sperm into egg"... World's first 'AI in vitro fertilization baby' born

The world's first baby born through a process where almost all stages of in vitro fertilization were performed by AI (artificial intelligence) and robots.

The American biotechnology startup 'Conceivable Life Sciences' announced in the April issue of the international journal 'Reproductive BioMedicine Online' that it has successfully automated the robotic process of in vitro fertilization (IVF), also known as test-tube procedure. This is the first case where most of the test-tube procedures have been successfully performed using robots and AI.

The procedure applied this time is Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). Unlike conventional IVF, which involves placing eggs and sperm in a test tube to induce natural fertilization, this is a highly advanced procedure that involves directly injecting a single sperm into the cytoplasm of an egg using a very fine needle. It is mainly used for male infertility patients with poor sperm motility.

The researchers successfully automated most of the 23 steps required for ICSI. Each step is performed by watching the procedure process in real-time and pressing a button to proceed. In this case, the robots installed in Guadalajara, Mexico, were remotely operated by experts in Hudson, New York, to carry out the procedure.

AI analyzes appearance and motility to select the healthiest sperm, then a robot uses a fine micro-needle to penetrate the egg membrane and inject the sperm. Robots are also used when freezing the fertilized embryo in liquid nitrogen for storage.

Subsequently, AI evaluates the chromosomal status and implantation potential of the modified embryos to identify the most viable embryo. The process of sperm and egg retrieval and the final step of implanting the fertilized embryo into the uterus were performed manually by humans, while the remaining procedures were carried out through robotic automation.

The researchers fertilized five of the eight donated eggs using AI and robotics, while three were fertilized using traditional manual methods. Subsequently, they selected the two embryos that appeared the healthiest through AI analysis, both of which were fertilized and cultured using AI and robotic technology.

The researchers stated, "The first embryo failed to result in pregnancy, but the second embryo successfully implanted, and a healthy baby was born." However, they did not disclose the gender of the baby or the time of birth.

Jacques Cohen stated, "AI has demonstrated higher accuracy than humans in identifying healthy eggs and sperm, and robots are more precise than humans when injecting sperm into egg cells," and he added, "By utilizing this technology, we can effectively improve fertilization and birth rates."

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The success rate of in vitro fertilization could dramatically increase~

I know there are many couples suffering from infertility, and I hope it will be applied in our country soon.