AI helps couple get pregnant after 18 years of failed attempts
After exhausting all other options, the couple approached the Columbia University Fertility Center (CUFC), where they decided to try a new technique, CNN reported. Using the STAR (Sperm Tracking and Recovery) method, powered by AI, doctors were able to detect hidden sperm in the male partner.
The fertility specialists analysed the semen sample using the STAR system and successfully found hidden sperm cells. These were then used to fertilise the wife's egg through IVF. The woman became the first person ever to conceive using this new technology.
"It took me two days to believe I was actually pregnant," the woman said. "I still wake up in the morning and can't believe if this is true or not. I still don't believe I am pregnant until I see the scans."
The STAR method was developed over five years by Dr Zev Williams, director of CUFC, and his team. The researchers were equally surprised when the method worked in practice.
Dr Williams explained, "A patient provided a sample, and highly skilled technicians looked for two days through that sample to try to find sperm. They didn't find any. We brought it to the AI-based STAR System. In one hour, it found 44 sperm. So right then, we realised, 'Wow, this is really a game-changer. This is going to make such a big difference for patients.'"
The STAR system works by placing a semen sample on a specially designed chip under a microscope. High-powered imaging is then used to scan the entire sample, capturing over eight million images in under an hour. The AI, trained to identify sperm cells, then searches through the images and locates the sperm.
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