Extend Fertility Debuts State-of-the-Art Egg Freezing Lab

Specialized facility to oversee and execute most advanced method of vitrification

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Feb 16, 2017, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Extend Fertility, a one-of-a-kind, specialty egg freezing practice, today announces that its state-of-the-art egg-freezing laboratory is fully operational. The lab at Extend Fertility oversees and executes the process of vitrification utilizing a process that is considered to be the most advanced and successful.

The Cryotec method employed by Extend Fertility was created by Dr. Masashige Kuwayama, long considered the foremost authority on vitrification, and is considered the most advanced method of egg freezing available for cryopreserving eggs currently in practice. This process, combined with the lab's state-of-the-art technology and uniquely clean environment, enables Extend Fertility to ensure a near 100 percent survival rate of oocytes.

"The Cryotec process is superior to its slower predecessors, which introduced more opportunities for errors that can destroy the viability of stored eggs by damaging their cellular structure," said Embryology Laboratory Assistant Director Dr. Leslie Ramirez, PhD, who studied in Japan with Dr. Kuwayama to perfect her technique. Extend Fertility is Dr. Kuwayama's east coast representative Cryotec laboratory. Before any other cryogenic lab is permitted to use his method, their embryologists must train with Dr. Ramirez.

Vitrification is so named because during the process the eggs transition to a vitreous, or "glass-like," state. A combination of cryoprotectants and faster cooling (compared to the slow freezing method) reduce the opportunity for damaging intercellular ice crystals to form during the process, ensuring a near 100 percent survival rate of oocytes.

To maintain this uniquely advanced lab, Extend Fertility takes a number of steps to produce the cleanest, safest possible environment for egg freezing:

A custom design by Dr. Ramirez ensures optimal workflow when reproductive cells are handled during all procedures
A unique air-handling system – devoted solely to the lab – uniquely isolates its environment from the rest of the floor
Mini air locks and a fiber membrane seal deter potentially harmful particulates
Temperature controls on all lab surfaces and bench top incubators maintain egg quality by mimicking a normal body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius

World-class physicians and embryologists provide patients at Extend Fertility with the highest quality care in a state-of-the-art facility, purpose built for egg freezing. The lab is led by chief embryologist Dr. Leslie Ramirez, who obtained her master's and Ph.D. in biotechnology of human assisted reproduction at the University of Valencia in Spain, studying under Dr. Carlos Simón at the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (Valencia Infertility Institute). She then studied with Dr. Masashige Kuwayama in Japan. Dr. Ramirez is supported in the lab by Alexis Adler, Extend Fertility's Senior Embryologist. Ms. Adler has more than 20 years' embryology experience, having previously worked as the Senior Embryologist at Weill Cornell and as the Supervisor of the Embryology Lab at NYU Fertility Center.

To learn more or schedule a fertility assessment, potential patients can visit Extend Fertility's website at www.extendfertility.com or call 212-810-2828.

Contact:
Rachel Dobin
646 747 7153
[email protected]

SOURCE Extend Fertility