Bio-X SIGF Graduate Student Fellow

Awarded in 2016
Home Department: Electrical Engineering
Faculty Advisors: Audrey Bowden (Electrical Engineering), Barry Behr (Obstetrics & Gynecology), and Sindy Tang (Mechanical Engineering)

Research Title: Clinical classification methods for in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos in order to increase the rate of singleton births

Research Description: Nearly 10% of couples will turn to assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) despite the high costs (>$12,000USD) and low success rates (<25%). Michael’s goal is to identify an accurate way to predict the viability of implanted embryos in order to increase the singleton birth rate of IVF procedures. Using a variant of optical coherence tomography (OCT), Michael will measure structural, mechanical, optical, and temporal properties of early-stage embryos, and then use machine learning algorithms to identify key parameters associated with having a high accuracy for viability prediction.

WHERE IS HE NOW?

Michael is the co-founder of Spect. Spect enables Eyecare, Anywhere. Their telemedicine platform trains medical assistants and renders a diagnostic report in minutes.