HIMSSCast: AI can increase the success rate of pregnancy

Photo: Tetra/Getty Images

In vitro fertilization is the most important technology invented in the last 50 years, according to Daniella Gilboa, CEO of Israeli company AIVF. But saying that isn't good enough, she said. Success rates aren't high enough. The time to pregnancy is too long. 

Gilboa's conversation with Susan Morse, executive editor of Healthcare Finance News, concentrates on how AI increases the probability of getting pregnant through IVF. AI helps embryologists decide, through a noninvasive, real-time screening test, the genetic makeup of chromosomes and which embryo to transfer to the uterus. There's no need to freeze embryos, Gilboa said. 

AI can help answer the "million-dollar question in IVF today," she said: "Which embryo becomes a baby?"

The interview took place on Feb. 2, prior to the Alabama Supreme Court decision of Feb. 16 declaring that embryos created through in vitro fertilization should be considered children. Lawmakers, doctors and patients are raising concerns about the far-ranging impacts of the ruling on healthcare and reproductive technology, according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

Contacted after the SCOTUS decision, Gilboa chose not to comment. However, her mantra has long been the democratization of IVF, meaning everyone should have access.

"We as a society really need to push here to allow people to achieve their dream of having a baby and to democratize IVF," she said, in her interview here. Please listen for more.

Talking points:

• IVF success rates are higher in Israel than in the United States, where treatment is subsidized.
• Five percent of babies in Israel are born through IVF, compared with 2% in the United States.
• AIVF has seen a 30% increase in success rates. 
• The company operates in Korea, Australia, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and hopes to work in India soon.
• In a study, AIVF followed women who started IVF treatments 10 years ago. Ninety percent had a baby. 
• The number of IVF treatments, or cycles, is currently about four or more. AIVF has reduced this to an average of 1.6 cycles.

More About this Episode:

Israel IVF startup looks to democratize infertility coverage in the United States

Ethical application of AI in healthcare in the spotlight

Virtus Health enhancing IVF patient experience with AI

Roundup: Monash IVF begins digital transformation and more briefs

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company partners with male fertility platform

Aetna updates fertility coverage following claims of LGBTQ+ discrimination

Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org