SmartBox 3, part of system for freezing eggs and embryos during IVF

SmartBox 3, box for liquid nitrogen, and instruction manual used as part of the Vitrolife Rapid-i™ Vitrification System for the cryopreservation of eggs and embryos during in vitro fertilisation (IVF), made in Sweden, 2023

In 2021, 76,000 cycles of IVF were carried out in the UK. Cryopreservation has become an increasingly important part of IVF. Current recommendations mean that fewer embryos are implanted per IVF cycle and often additional viable embryos are frozen for use in future fertility treatment. In 2021, nearly half of all IVF cycles in the UK involved the use of frozen embryos. Egg freezing is also one of the fastest growing fertility treatments in the UK with many people choosing it to increase their fertility options. However, cryopreservation of eggs and embryos also allows for more complicated IVF techniques such as pre-implantation genetic testing, to screen for a range of genetic conditions, and newly developed techniques like mitochondrial donation therapy (MDT) which greatly reduces the risk of mitochondrial disease.

The increase in cryopreservation is partly due to better equipment. The SmartBox3, one part of the Vitrolife Rapid-i™ Vitrification System for the cryopreservation of eggs and embryos, is used for the initial freezing process, before samples are moved to long term storage or for the thawing process before they are used. It is a compact size, designed to fit on a lab bench which reduces the distance between the technician’s workspace and the vitrification equipment, helping to streamline this time consuming and meticulous process.