Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-00784, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Ho, Paul (Simon Fraser University), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : British Columbia|Colombie-Britannique, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Engage Grants for universities, program name french : Subventions d'engagement partenarial pour les universités, program purpose english : The use of fertility treatments has increased dramatically in the last 4 decades as a result of delayed_x000D_
childbearing. Unfortunately, female reproductive capacity declines from a peak in the 2nd and 3rd decades of_x000D_
life so that by the age of 40 there is a significant reduction in fertility with a high chance of miscarriage._x000D_
Assisted Reproductive Technology includes fertility treatments that involve handling eggs and embryos outside_x000D_
the body. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is one of the most common fertility treatments in which ovaries are hyper_x000D_
stimulated to produce multiple eggs for external fertilization. The fertilized eggs (embryos) are incubated until_x000D_
they reach the blastocyst stage (about 5 days after fertilization) and then are chosen for implantation. Optimal_x000D_
candidates are evaluated during the incubation process by assigning grades to reflect the quality of blastocysts_x000D_
based on intrinsic morphological structures. Being able to quantify why certain blastocysts have higher_x000D_
implantation potentials will help researchers to increase success rates and minimize the chances of multiple_x000D_
births due to transferring multiple embryos. Therefore, it is essential to identify and measure various embryo_x000D_
components and developmental parameters in a reliable and accurate manner. The main focus of this research_x000D_
project is to create semi-automated technologies that can assist and facilitate expert embryologists to identify_x000D_
and mark regions of interest in a high pace. More specifically, we propose developing an image processing_x000D_
toolset that can automatically process some of the more tedious parts of ground truth identification and allow_x000D_
expert to improve results with the minimal manual intervention/effort in 2D microscopic images of human_x000D_
embryos., program purpose french : The use of fertility treatments has increased dramatically in the last 4 decades as a result of delayed_x000D_
childbearing. Unfortunately, female reproductive capacity declines from a peak in the 2nd and 3rd decades of_x000D_
life so that by the age of 40 there is a significant reduction in fertility with a high chance of miscarriage._x000D_
Assisted Reproductive Technology includes fertility treatments that involve handling eggs and embryos outside_x000D_
the body. In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is one of the most common fertility treatments in which ovaries are hyper_x000D_
stimulated to produce multiple eggs for external fertilization. The fertilized eggs (embryos) are incubated until_x000D_
they reach the blastocyst stage (about 5 days after fertilization) and then are chosen for implantation. Optimal_x000D_
candidates are evaluated during the incubation process by assigning grades to reflect the quality of blastocysts_x000D_
based on intrinsic morphological structures. Being able to quantify why certain blastocysts have higher_x000D_
implantation potentials will help researchers to increase success rates and minimize the chances of multiple_x000D_
births due to transferring multiple embryos. Therefore, it is essential to identify and measure various embryo_x000D_
components and developmental parameters in a reliable and accurate manner. The main focus of this research_x000D_
project is to create semi-automated technologies that can assist and facilitate expert embryologists to identify_x000D_
and mark regions of interest in a high pace. More specifically, we propose developing an image processing_x000D_
toolset that can automatically process some of the more tedious parts of ground truth identification and allow_x000D_
expert to improve results with the minimal manual intervention/effort in 2D microscopic images of human_x000D_
embryos., agreement title english : Ground truth generation toolset for microscopic human embryo images, agreement title french : Ground truth generation toolset for microscopic human embryo images, agreement number : EGP, agreement value : 24695.0, agreement start date : 2018-03-22, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2018-2019)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada