Multi-Modal Artificial Intelligence of Embryo Grading and Pregnancy Prediction in Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Review

TL;DR

This review discusses how multi-modal AI techniques are transforming embryo grading and pregnancy prediction in assisted reproductive technology, highlighting recent advances, challenges, and future research directions.

Contribution

It offers a novel perspective by organizing AI applications based on data modalities, clarifying model design rationales and limitations in ART.

Findings

Multi-modal data integration improves embryo assessment accuracy.

Challenges include data scarcity and model generalization issues.

Legal and regulatory considerations impact AI deployment in ART.

Abstract

Infertility, a pressing global health concern, affects a substantial proportion of individuals worldwide. While advancements in assisted reproductive technology (ART) have offered effective interventions, conventional in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) procedures still encounter significant hurdles in enhancing pregnancy success rates. Key challenges include the inherent subjectivity in embryo grading and the inefficiency of multi-modal data integration. Against this backdrop, the adoption of AI-driven technologies has emerged as a pivotal strategy to address these issues. This article presents a comprehensive review of the progress in AI applications for embryo grading and pregnancy prediction from a novel perspective, with a specific focus on the utilization of different modal data, such as static images, time-lapse videos, and structured tabular data. The reason for this perspective is that reorganizing tasks based on data sources can not only more accurately depict the essence of the problem but also help clarify the rationality and limitations of model design. Furthermore, this review critically examines the core challenges in contemporary research, encompassing the intricacies of multi-modal feature fusion, constraints imposed by data scarcity, limitations in model generalization capabilities, and the dynamically evolving legal and regulatory frameworks. On this basis, it explicitly identifies potential avenues for future research, aiming to provide actionable guidance for advancing the application of multi-modal AI in the field of ART.