The instant invention relates to embryo transfer procedures. More particularly, the instant invention relates to a calculator for displaying synchronization of the ovulation cycles of a donor of at least one egg and a recipient of that egg during an egg transfer procedure.
Recent advances in reproductive medicine and reproductive technology have provided novel avenues for the treatment of infertility and have made it possible to achieve pregnancy in women previously thought to be irreversibly sterile.
The development of human in vitro fertilization (IVF) has successfully overcome female sterility due to absent, obstructed or irreparable fallopian tubes and has resulted in the extension of this technique to any etiologic infertility factor which cannot be satisfactorily treated with conventional methods, provided the partners involved have normal gametes and the female partner has a normal uterus. Recently, successful transfer of donor embryos and donor oocytes fertilized in vitro to recipient endometria has extended the use of in vitro fertilization technology to conditions where female gametes are either absent or are not readily accessible to oocyte harvest or where there is gametic abnormality resulting in in vitro fertilization failure. Moreover, the availability of donor oocytes has allowed the use of such gametes for testing fertilization potential in couples where repetitive IVF trials have resulted in lack of fertilization of apparently normal oocytes by seemingly normal spermatozoa. Accordingly, oocyte donation programs can be utilized in the treatment of human infertility as well as diagnostically to assess spermoocyte interactions. Although, medically, oocyte donation is analogous to sperm donation, technically the relative inaccessibility of female gametes and the relative difficulty of synchronizing the ovulatory process in the donor with endometrial maturation in the recipient make the procedures quite different.
While in vivo procedures have been successfully employed on a number of occasions, the transfer of in vitro fertilized donated oocytes to appropriately synchronized recipients appears to have wider clinical applications. In vitro procedures provide the added advantage of multiple oocyte collection in donors who are being stimulated with gonadotropines. Moreover, in vitro procedures do not require in vivo insemination of a donor with the inherent risks of undesired retained tubal or intrauterine pregnancy, and the possibility of transmitting semen born infectious diseases.
Success of all donor oocyte procedures depends on appropriate embryo-endometrial synchronization. Critical to the achievement of pregnancy is the procurement of a viable embryo which can be transferred into a receptive endometrial milieu.
In order to maximize the possibility of a successful transfer, it is necessary to synchronize the development of the fertilized donor egg with the menstrual cycle of the recipient. While the subtleties of such synchronization may be readily understandable to physicians engaged in transplant research, the subtleties are rarely understood by recipients and donors and can be confusing to medical support personnel as well as physicians in the field. Since it is necessary to develop and communicate information regarding synchronization to recipients and their spouses as well as donors, there is a need for a procedure or device for conveying such information in a simple, readily understandable format which can eventually become uniform throughout the practice.