Previvo Genetics, Inc.

John E Buster

Steven Paul Woodard

Moses Cesario

Sandra Ann Carson

A kit having instructions for use for performing uterine lavage in a female patient includes a uterine lavage catheter configured for insertion into a woman's uterus to remove viable blastocysts from the uterus, and one or more first containers having a sufficient dosage amount of a GnRH antagonist to cause desynchronization of the endometrium of the patient prior to, during and/or following recovery of viable blastocysts from the uterus.

Recovery and processing of human embryos formed in vivo

A process for recovering one or more blastocysts from a uterus of a human includes a step of placing a device transvaginally into a cervical canal of the patient; a step of delivering fluid through the device to the uterus and applying a vacuum to a uterus of the patient to aspirate fluid and entrained one or more blastocysts from the uterus; and a step of performing a biopsy procedure on the one or more recovered blastocysts to remove one or more of trophectoderm cells or inner cell mass from the recovered blastocysts. The process may further include a step of storing one or more of the biopsied trophectoderm cells or inner cell mass following the biopsy procedure and a step of performing at least one molecular diagnostic assay test on the one or more of the biopsied trophectoderm cells or inner cell mass.

A device for recovering one or more blastocysts from the uterus of a human includes an outer guide member for insertion into a cervical canal of the human. The outer guide member includes a distal portion with an activatable seal for isolating the uterus from the external environment and defines a lumen having a longitudinal axis. The device also includes an inner catheter located within the lumen and slidable along the longitudinal axis of the lumen relative to the outer guide member. The inner catheter has a distal tip positionable distally of the seal to extend into the uterus and includes a fluid delivery lumen terminating at a distal fluid delivery port for delivering fluid into the uterus. The device defines a distal suction port for aspirating fluid and entrained blastocysts from the uterus. The distal fluid delivery port and the distal suction port are arranged such that, in use, fluid delivered from the distal fluid delivery port travels through the distal suction port to the uterus.

Uterine lavage for embryo retrieval

Among other things, uterine lavage is performed to withdraw at least 50% of in vivo fertilized preimplantation embryos produced after superovulation of a woman and artificial insemination using sperm of her sexual partner. After genetic diagnosis or sex determination or gene therapy, or any combination of any two or more of them, of the recovered embryos and selection of at least one of the embryos to be implanted, the selected embryos are returned to the woman for implantation in her uterus.

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Providence, RI, United States of America

John E Buster