Development of an automated microfluidic system for the loading and unloading of cryoprotectants from mammalian oocytes

Abstract

Oocyte cryopreservation is an assistive reproductive procedure that has allowed women to overcome infertility and enjoy increased reproductive freedom. Despite a rapid increase in oocyte cryopreservation cycles over the past seven years, success rates both between and within clinics remain highly heterogeneous, negatively impacting clinical outcomes. This is because the clinical gold standard in oocyte cryopreservation, manual vitrification, is a technically challenging procedure that's success is strongly dependent on the experience, training, and attentiveness of the operator. In this thesis, the development of an automated platform for the introduction and removal of cryoprotective agents (CPAs) to and from the oocyte is described. By combining microfluidics, automation, and optical measurement systems, the proposed system aims to overcome the challenges inherent to manual vitrification, and improve upon other existing platforms designed to perform these tasks. Development and fabrication of the microfluidic component of this proposed system is described, and is validated through a proof-of-concept experiment. This work marks the first step towards a completely automated vitrification platform, capable of removing the uncertainty in success currently plaguing clinics and their patients.