Vitrification

Embryos and eggs can now be frozen and thawed more successfully than ever before. Until recently, embryo and egg freezing. This has recently been replaced by a more sophisticated technique known as vitrification, which is widely regarded as a superior cryopreservation process.

Patients who undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) will hopefully produce a number of viable embryos. If an embryo isn't immediately transferred back to the patient, it's stored in cryostorage, which means it's frozen and kept until it's needed for a later transfer. It is also possible to freeze and thaw unfertilized eggs before fertilizing and transferring them.

The problem with freezing any cell in the body is that the fluid within the cells can form potentially harmful ice crystals. Vitrification is the process of freezing an egg or embryo with such rapid cooling that no ice crystals form.

The term "vitrification" is derived from the Latin word for glass, vitreum. Vitrification is the process of freezing eggs and embryos so quickly that the water molecules do not have time to form ice crystals and instead instantly solidify into a glass-like structure.

It is a much more complicated method than previous "slow freezing" methods, but it has produced positive results. Recently, vitrification success rates have surpassed fresh IVF cycles, a feat only accomplished a few years ago.

Consider how you take food out of your freezer at home to better understand the difference between "slow freezing" and vitrification. Is it common for your food to contain ice crystals from time to time? As ice crystals form, they fracture and destroy many of the slowly frozen specimens in the lab, as doctors saw inside "slow-frozen" cells.