English: Laboratory procedures associated with IVF cycles are performed at the Alta Bates Campus of the Medical Center. The oocytes are recovered in the operating room of the Surgery Department using standard ultrasound-guided aspiration. The embryologist uses a portable isolette to identify the eggs during the retrieval procedure allowing for instant communication between the clinician and the embryologist.

Portable Isolette

The isolette is a modified neonatal incubator that maintains body temperature and a gas phase resulting in physiologic pH levels. Thus it mimicks the environment inside the mother’s body. The use of the isolette for this purpose was described by Dr. Chetkowski and collaborators in 1983 while he was at UCLA

All work on eggs and embryos, with the sole exception of micromanipulation, is performed inside the controlled environment of the isolette.