A new innovation stems again from Embryogenesis and comes to be added into the clinic’s and reproductive medicine’s “arsenal”. Embryogenesis’s clinical embryologist Dr. Konstantinos A. Economou has developed a new protocol for the artificial activation of unfertilized aged human oocytes after ICSI, as part of his PhD thesis at the University of Athens Medical School. By combining two stimuli, the calcium ionophore A23187 and the GM-CSF cytokine, has managed to not only activate the unfertilized oocytes 18 hours post ICSI, but also to develop them into excellent quality and chromosomally healthy blastocysts. With the valuable input of our genetics department we confirmed that these genetically healthy embryos produced by the new protocol can potentially lead to live births of healthy infants.

The results of Dr. Economou’s research have been published in the renowned international scientific Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, while the publication led to Dr. Economou obtaining a PhD degree by the University of Athens Medical School.

The publication of this innovation in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics can be found below.

Dr. Oikonomou_Artificial oocyte activation protocol for the aged unfertilized oocytes after ICSI