May 01, 2023 12:21:00

Successful in vitro fertilization with a robot controlled by the world's first ``PlayStation 5 controller'', two healthy babies are born safely

It was reported that Overture Life, a startup developing an in vitro fertilization robot, performed in vitro fertilization with a robot using Sony's PlayStation 5 controller, and succeeded in giving birth with the world's first in vitro fertilization robot.

First babies made with 'sperm robot' are born

https://nypost.com/2023/04/26/first-babies-made-with-sperm-robot-are-born/

Life found a way with… a PS5 controller? - The Hustle

https://thehustle.co/life-found-a-way-with-a-ps5-controller/

Micro-insemination , in which sperm is injected into an egg collected from a woman with a thin glass needle, is one of the options for those who hope for fertility treatment, but it is expensive because it requires the advanced skills of an experienced embryologist. .

This time, Overture Life performed 12 IVF cycles with an engineer-operated IVF robot with a PlayStation 5 controller, successfully giving birth to two baby girls. The baby is the first to be born after being fertilized with the help of automated technology.

by Overture Life

In order to develop this in vitro fertilization robot, Overture Life has developed a 'biochip' for in vitro fertilization. It has a medium that encourages embryo development and small grooves for sperm to swim through.

Overture Life's CIO and geneticist Santiago Munné said, 'Ultimately, it's going to be a 'mini IVF lab' where you put a sperm and an egg in and five days later you get a fertilized embryo. This technology can be used by any obstetrician, so it will be much cheaper than going to an in vitro fertilization specialist.'

The company aims to increase the success rate of in vitro fertilization with robot assistance and reduce the cost of the procedure, ultimately reducing costs by 70%.

Overture Life has raised about $ 37 million (about 5.06 billion yen) from investors including former YouTube CEO Susan Wasicky. Competitors are also entering this field one after another, and the in vitro fertilization market is expected to grow to a scale of 36.2 billion dollars (about 4.952 trillion yen) in 2026.

Giampiero D. Palermo, the developer of ``Intracellular Sperm Injection (ICSI),'' which injects sperm into eggs, told the media, ``The concept of this technology is great, but it is still in its infancy. It is.' Also, Overture Life engineers say, ``This is not a robot ICSI yet,'' because it is manual to set sperm in the injection needle.

On the other hand, many fertility specialists believe that the future of IVF robots is inevitable. Kathleen Miller, chief scientist at Innovation Fertility, a network of medical and research institutions that perform in vitro fertilization, said, ``The definition of what an embryologist is will evolve in the future.'' .