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GPH News Spring 2014

New paediatric service officially opened Latest technology for couples with infertility Greenslopes Private Hospital is home to one of the latest technologies for couples with infertility. The device called an Embryoscope provides growing embryos with a microenvironment with reduced toxins and optimises conditions for the beginning of human life. Assisted Conception Australia (ACA) is the first clinic in Queensland to purchase the device. Dr Clare Boothroyd, Medical Director of ACA said that the Embryoscope allows the scientists to monitor the embryo development every fifteen minutes by time lapse imagery recorded on a state of the art computer imaging system. “This is the beginning of new age in embryo culture in my opinion,” said Dr Boothroyd. “We saw marked improvement in pregnancy rates when we moved from benchtop incubators the size of a domestic fridge, to the mini incubator system where embryos were cultured in a smaller environment with more stable conditions.” “The Embryoscope takes this a step further, each embryo is cultured for up to five days in its own tiny well and monitored without the stress 4 GPHnews of change in temperature, light and atmospheric conditions – all factors to which we know the human embryo is exquisitely sensitive,” Dr Boothroyd said. In addition the technology of time lapse photography shows that the very early stages of division of the embryo predict whether the embryo will become an ongoing pregnancy. This information was not previously available with standard embryo culture techniques. The Embryoscope is ideal for clinics such as ACA which provides specialised individual based care for couples who have often had long frustrating journeys, more recently in so called “low cost” clinics. “In truth low cost clinics may be low efficiency clinics which obtain fewer eggs and provide “same size fits all” fertility service. Actually the co-payment for many of the low cost clinics is not significantly different from ACA” says Dr Boothroyd “but we prepare our patients carefully for IVF and aim to maximise their chance of success from each cycle.” There will no extra payment for access to the Embryoscope during 2014. People caring for little people Greenslopes Private Hospital recently celebrated the opening of its new paediatric service with a morning tea and tour of the new paediatric ward for doctors and staff. The new paediatric service will provide short stay surgical and medical care for paediatric patients. This latest addition follows on from the opening of maternity service in February 2013 and completes the full range of services offered at Greenslopes. The new 12 bed paediatric ward (ward 12) which is located in the Jessie Vasey Wing is run by our highly experienced team of nurses and paediatric specialists. The ward offers eight single patient rooms with ensuite as well as a four-bed room which will mainly be used for day surgery admissions. In each room, there are facilities for one parent/carer to stay overnight with their child. A separate treatment room on the ward will provide a place for children to have small procedures away from their beds. We are fortunate to have a core group of paediatricians and surgeons who are based on site at Greenslopes who will work with our experienced team of nurses to ensure delivery of the best of care to our paediatric patients. The paediatric ward will be open for admissions from 24th November. Paediatricians Drs Tommy Tran (L) and Chris Toumpas (R) officially open new paediatric ward with Nurse Manager Helen Taylor (C) and staff. ACA Clinical Embryologist, Nora Alsaffar with the new Embryoscope


GPH News Spring 2014
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