Automated Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSIA)

Today Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is performed manually; a highly skilled technician manually injects a single sperm cell into an oocyte using a set of microinjectors. Success of ICSI is contingent on operator skills and has a direct impact on the number of fertilized oocytes available and cumulative pregnancy rates. Automation of the ICSI technique may help improve consistency and efficiency of the process, as well as improve reproducibility across operators. Overture has developed the ICSI system to automate these critical processes, named ICSIA. ICSIA is composed of the same devices and consumables used for manual ICSI, but these devices have been integrated using a software interface with artificial intelligence to identify oocytes and allow for proper puncture of the oocyte and injection of the sperm without human intervention. The information from this study will be used by the study Sponsor, Overture Life, Inc, to help future development of the System and for submission of data to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During the study, patients will undergo a conventional IVF cycle, or donor IVF cycle. After the oocyte retrieval or thawing of donor oocytes, the oocytes will be placed into equal groups: test and control. Test group oocytes will undergo ICSI via ICSIA (the investigational device), and control group oocytes will undergo manual ICSI as is routinely performed. The oocytes will be immediately evaluated for survival and fertilization rates and remain separate for the duration of the study. ICSIA has been extensively tested in hamster and mice oocytes, and fertilization/survival rates after ICSIA have been between 89%-96%. After ICSI, conventional IVF processes will be followed and fertilized oocytes cultured up to blastocyst stage. Blastocysts will be biopsied for preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) which assesses the embryo's chromosomes. All biopsied blastocysts will be frozen, and frozen embryo transfers (FET) scheduled after genetic results have been received. Embryo freezing and thaw will be performed manually. Selection of the embryo for transfer (whether test or control) will be at random.