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BOVINE INTRAVAGINAL EMBRYO CULTURE DEVICE

Objective

Cattle Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has great promise, but suffers frompoor technical efficiency. The International Embryo Transfer Society publishes yearly data on the outcomes of cattle ART. Over the past decade, there has been a 350% increase in utilization, but a 7% decrease in the efficiency of embryo production from oocytes obtained. This is due to 'technical' problems, that is embryos do not grow well in laboratory incubators, and 'process' problems, where many incumbent cattle IVF companies require the transport of oocytes to out-of-stateregional laboratories for fertilization and embryo development and transport of embryos back to the recipient cows located on the farm or veterinarians site. There is a need for improved bovine embryo culture technology, which ReproHealth is developing. ReproHealth has created the world's 1st bovine IntraVaginal Embryo Culture (IVC) device, a technology used in humans successfully and FDA-approved, and plans to bring this technology, with modification, to cattle production.The Phase I Technical Objectives focus on identifying the best plastic to support embryo growth, a method for ensuring the IVC device stays in place while minimizing vaginal irritation and discharge, and demonstrating the revised design and new materials that can establish a pregnancy in a recipient cow. The Phase I Technical Objectives are as follows:Technical Objective 1: Determine the ideal composition of the plastic (polystyrene or polypropylene) that best supports embryo growth efficiency.Technical Objective 2: Develop a method for clipping the IVC capsule to a standard CIDR to keep the device in place.Technical Objective 3: Establish a pregnancy in a recipient cow with ReproHealth's IVC device.These Technical Objectives will support the validation and demonstrate the feasibility of the new approach. Demonstrated feasibility in Phase I will support a comparative study in Phase II among a larger population of cows. Phase I is designed to answer the following key technical questions:Does the composition of the plastic (polystyrene or polypropylene) alter the embryo growth efficiency?Does a clip-on IVC device holder, attached to a CIDR keep the device in place, and cause minimal vaginal irritation or discharge?Can we establish a pregnancy in a recipient cow, using standard recipient synchronization using an IVC device?

Investigators
Donahue, J.; Dixon, DA, .
Institution
REPROHEALTH TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Start date
2024
End date
2025
Project number
INDW-2024-00402
Accession number
1031810