The Fertility Hub – Research

inno

inno-2

 

Our Partners

 

 

 

 

Research Areas:

 

Disruptive TLS embryo monitoring

A minimal, time-lapse sensing system that monitors embryo growth at fraction of the cost of present solutions in an IVF lab.

image29

 

Time lapse imaging has been found to improve pregnancy conversion in IVF by 20% but specialized equipment has significantly added to IVF costs. Time lapse imaging essentially involves a camera inside an incubator to take periodic pictures of the growing embryo to get more insight about the morphological and morphokinetic characteristics of the growing embryo. The present time lapse embryo monitoring solutions are expensive not affordable for a lap in a developing country in India. We are working on a device which would cost a fraction of the present solution enabling periodic monitoring of the embryo from within the incubator itself.

Bioreactor

Perfusion enabled cell chamber – with the aim of automating the ivf cycle process from media changing to embryo monitoring, we are working on a bioreactor concept based on the promising microfluidics approach which has many benefits interms of reduced media-handling volumes and better control on the process in realtime.

bioreactor-concept

Microgripper

Handling of gametes and embryo is a crucial part of the IVF cycle with significant impact on the success of the procedure. These biological tissues are very sensitive to forces being applied during grasping which is required for ICSI procedure. At Santaan,we are working on a novel microgripper, force compliant device which is designed not to exert a force on the sensitive embryo beyond a set safe limit.
Know more about our partner – Bendflex

Sperm Count monitoring device

Controlling semen quality can increase pregnancy success rate up to 20%. Currently sperm count assessment of the sperm happens under a microscope requiring an expensive counter device for manual approximation of the number of sperms in lab settings. To make this procedure easy and less resource intensive, we are in the process of making a sperm counting device which only requires a phone based camera and a microscopic lens module attachment on a normal phone. To automatically count the quick moving sperms in a sample utilizing the good processing speeds available today on most smartphones running our novel algorithm.

sperm-count

Minimal stimulation

A major expense at present in an IVF cycle is the use of stimulants which have to be readily and frequently given to a prospective mother to bring about ideal changes in her body to improve pregnancy rates. However these stimulants have many and requires extensive lab based monitoring. Working with our research team at Santaan, we aim to move towards minimal stimulation which can address this problem and to optimize the protocols and related procedures for best possible results.

 

min-stimulation

Genomic Workbench

We are closely working with our partner inDNA who are developing a HIPAA compliant cloud based  informatics and clinical annotation platform that will translate sequence (NGS) data from a Cancer diagnostic gene panel into actionable report/information for clinicians. The goal is to democratize the use of genomics technologies by empowering physicians to utilize a patient’s genomic profile to improve clinical decisions thus transforming patient care.

 

dna-report

Santaan App Cluster

To assist you on the path to parenthood, we are seeking assistance from mobile apps which have done considerable work understanding challenges while conceiving and come up with a service which really helps couples.

 

appclust

 

Recommended apps

Lifestyle Modification Apps Fertility Tracking Apps Fertility Scoring Apps

We will assist you on how to get started with these services and help you stay informed at every step of your journey with us.

To know more about our partner working on fertility score – Advenio

Smart Lab

We aim for better and predictive maintenance of IVF lab. Quality monitoring is an important aspect of IVF lab having a strong effect on final clinical outcome therefore rigorous monitoring of lab environment is a crucial activity which is a challenge at present for most labs particularly labs with limited resources . Environmental disturbances like electric supply, gases, volatile organic compounds , vibration , door open/ shut frequency and temperature play havoc in IVF lab. Most of IVF lab monitoring is passive and reactive. At santaan we are working on a IOT based remote monitoring platform to proactively monitor these parameters which would improve outcomes and reduce failures.

 

iot-pic1 iot-pic2 iot-pic

Digital Health Harmonization

A big challenge at present is integration of  healthcare applications into a holistic ecosystem that connects Developers, Patients, Providers, Payers and Institutions. At the same time, it is also important to have a framework which allows transmission of health grade data in a compliant manner. To achieve this cloud based health data information system for easy development of healthcare apps, we are closely working with Medstack. This would enable much needed collaboration of lifestyle apps like Google Fit, Fitbit with fertility apps such as clue, glow to provide a more personalized experience to the user.

Know more about our partner – Medstack Inc

medstack-pic

Non-invasive Anaemia detection

Anaemia is common challenge among woman in India with over 50% suffering from some form of anemia. Anaemic women are especially prone to severe complications during delivery. So in order to quickly detect blood haemoglobin levels we are working on a non-invasive device to screen for anaemia.

The concept has been appreciated by Pearson Acceleration program – Med4Dev, Tel Aviv, Israel.