
In a historic medical breakthrough, the world’s first baby has been born through a fully automated IVF procedure powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Developed by Conceivable Life Sciences, a biotechnology firm based in New York and Guadalajara, this revolutionary system automates the entire intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) process, which has been a cornerstone of IVF treatment for decades.
Traditionally, ICSI involves a skilled embryologist manually injecting a single sperm cell into an egg, a process that has been used since the 1990s. While effective, the manual nature of the procedure introduces variability due to fatigue, human error, and differing levels of expertise. Conceivable’s AI-guided, digitally controlled system eliminates those variables by automating all 23 intricate steps of the ICSI procedure, either via AI or remote digital control.
According to a case report published in Reproductive Biomedicine Online, the baby was born following treatment at Hope IVF Mexico in Guadalajara. The mother, a 40-year-old woman using donor eggs after a previous unsuccessful IVF cycle, received fertilisation via the automated system. Out of five eggs treated with AI-assisted ICSI, four were successfully fertilised. One of those developed into a high-quality blastocyst, which was frozen, later transferred, and ultimately led to the birth of a healthy baby boy.
What makes this system especially notable is its use of AI not only to perform the injection but also to select and immobilise the sperm. The AI identifies the optimal sperm cell, targets it with a laser to immobilise it, and positions it precisely within the injection pipette before delivering it into the egg. All of this was executed with remarkable accuracy and consistency—more than human operators could typically achieve.
The procedure was performed remotely, with embryologists in both Guadalajara and New York issuing commands through a digital interface. In total, 115 steps were executed to fertilise the five eggs. The average time taken per egg was just under 10 minutes, which is slightly longer than traditional ICSI due to its experimental nature. But future iterations are expected to be significantly faster.
Dr Jacques Cohen, Chief Scientific Officer at Conceivable and a pioneer in embryology, stated that the technology could reduce stress for lab staff and potentially improve both egg survival and the overall success rate of IVF. Dr Alejandro Chavez-Badiola, co-founder of Conceivable, described the development as the first system capable of automating every single component of the ICSI procedure.
While the results are promising, the company stresses that further studies are necessary to evaluate the system’s safety and efficacy on a broader scale. Nonetheless, this birth marks a major step towards the future of fully automated IVF laboratories, where human oversight remains, but precision and standardisation are dramatically enhanced through AI and robotics.
If proven safe in more cases, this innovation could redefine fertility treatment, making assisted reproduction more accessible, consistent, and effective around the world.
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