June 2022 Newsletter
Introduction
Thank you for reading Ravata’s monthly newsletter where we aim to keep our friends, customers, and collaborators informed of Ravata’s news. In this issue, we will cover exciting new data collection, our Pilot, and goals for the future.
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Bovine Blastocysts Sensing
Last month, Ravata coordinated a test with faculty at the University of California Davis’ Department of Animal Science using IVF-derived bovine embryos. Ravata brought its Cell Sorter Platform designed to evaluate blastocyst morphology prior to embryo transfer. Blastocysts were visually graded by an IVF technician into three classifications; dead, grade 1-2 (equals ‘medium’), and grade 3 (equals ‘good’). Embryos in group 3 were considered to be morphologically the best however some overlaps in grading were present. The cells can be seen in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1
Via this test, Ravata determined the sensitivity and specificity of it’s Cell Sorter Platform for bovine blastocyst assessment. Each instance of a cell traversing the sensing region triggers an electrical response which Ravata captures and acts upon in real time. Hundreds of cell profile datasets were captured using several bio-chips. Thus far we’ve identified over a dozen unique cell response profiles.
A consistent and prevalent pattern identified was the response amplitude increasing as the cell grade increased. Signal magnitude is 1/64th of the electrical “features” stored within each dataset requiring additional computation and analysis to fully quantify the predictive features of the cell profiles. Amplitude data for the 3 cell classifications can be seen in Figures 2, 3, and 4 for sensors 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Each sensor measures the cell at a unique frequency.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
OUR Next Steps
Over the next six months, Ravata will continue to collect more mouse and bovine data, bring on a data scientist to improve cell viability prediction, and shift to human embryo data collection by Q1 2023.
Ready For Pilot INstaLlations
For field use, data is required using cells at the facility of use. We are now offering Pilots to install and tailor the system for customers and collaborators. Contact us here to receive more information on the Pilot and check out our website for more information on the benefits.
Technical Whitepaper
Coming soon! Keep an eye out for our whitepaper in July.
WE STILL NEED HELP!
We are surveying the assisted reproduction landscape to identify the needs of embryologists, lab techs, and directors nationwide regardless of the mammalian species they work with.
Please help us gain traction in this endeavor by forwarding our survey to anyone you believe fits the demographic. Survey results will be shared with respondents and via newsletter!
Regards,
Ravata Team