Comprehensive Chromosome Screening (CCS) is an exciting new way of selecting high quality embryos for in vitro fertilization (IVF), with higher implantation and pregnancy rates than traditional screening. This state-of-the-art procedure allows embryologists to select the best embryos for transfer. The result is that couples using IVF can expect a better outcome.
A growing body of medical data is showing great results with CCS, including:
Comprehensive Chromosome Screening uses advanced microarray technology to test chromosomes, with nearly 99 percent accuracy.
Older methods of screening may involve obtaining a biopsy of cells at an early embryo stage, but sampling the single cells at an early stage is not always representative of the whole embryo, and some abnormalities can be missed. In addition, removing cells at such an early stage in the embryo’s development can also be harmful to the embryo itself.
Comprehensive Chromosome Screening allows chromosomes to be tested at a later stage so that the embryos with the normal genetic structure can be identified. They are screened at the molecular level, a much more effective and safer procedure. CCS requires a biopsy of genetic material from the trophectoderm — a layer of tissue that supplies the embryo with nourishment and later forms the major part of the placenta — during the early stages of cell differentiation. Trophectoderm biopsy has demonstrated to be safer than biopsies performed at the earlier, cleavage stage (Day 3) of embryo development. The technique greatly enhances embryo selection, offering a means of choosing the embryos in a group that are most likely to succeed. Consequently, fertility clinics using CCS report higher implantation and pregnancy rates.