A Proof of Concept for a Deep Learning System that Can Aid Embryologists in Predicting Blastocyst Survival After Thaw

The ability to understand whether embryos survive the thaw process is crucial to transferring competent embryos that can lead to pregnancy. The objective of this study was to develop a deep learning model capable of assisting embryologist assessment of survival of thawed blastocysts prior to embryo transfer. A deep learning model was developed using 652 labeled time-lapse videos of freeze-thaw blastocysts. The model was evaluated against and along embryologists on a test set of 99 freeze-thaw blastocysts, using images obtained at 0.5h increments from 0–3 hours post-thaw. The model achieved AUCs of 0.869 (95% CI: 0.789,0.934) and 0.807 (95% CI: 0.717,0.886) and the embryologists achieved average AUCs of 0.829 (95% CI: 0.747,0.896) and 0.850 (95% CI: 0.773,0.908) at 2h and 3h, respectively. Combining embryologist predictions with model predictions resulted in a significant increase in AUC of 0.051 (95% CI: 0.021,0.083) at 2h, and an equivalent increase in AUC of 0.010 (95% CI: -0.018,0.037) at 3h. This study suggests that a deep learning model can predict in vitro blastocyst survival after thaw. After correlation with clinical outcomes of transferred embryos, this model may help embryologists ascertain which embryos may have failed to survive the thaw process and increase the likelihood of pregnancy by preventing the transfer of non-viable embryos.