On Wednesday it was announced that Nikon has developed a new microscope that will reduce the workload of embryologists performing fertility treatments.
The product, which will be launched on Friday and sold through a group company, reduces the number of operational steps in intracytoplasmic sperm injection, an in vitro fertilization method, by about 75%.
Nikon developed the product because the demand for fertility treatments is increasing as women become more important in society.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is a fertilization treatment in which sperm is injected into an egg.
While conventional microscopes require adjusting the amount of light and the lens at each of the six main stages of the entire process, the new product allows users to pre-register complicated settings for the stages and switch between the registered settings with a button.
To prevent operating errors, the microscope will display a warning if a setting is used that differs from the setting already registered.
The share of children born using reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization is increasing year after year. In 2021, the figure was 8.6%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to the previous year.
The number and proportion of such children are expected to increase further after the treatment becomes eligible for public health insurance coverage in 2022.
Nikon and Tokyo-based Evident dominate the Japanese market for intracytoplasmic sperm injection microscopes.
Nikon has been selling microscopes for assisted reproduction for over 40 years. This is the first time in eight years that the company has released a new model in the category.
