Virtual Reality Use in Assisted Reproductive Technology

In vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment involving ovarian stimulation, oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer (ET) is an effective treatment for various causes of infertility. Despite advances in ovarian stimulation regimens and laboratory conditions, many IVF cycles do not result in pregnancy, and repeated treatment cycles are required. According to the latest Assisted reproductive technology (ART) surveillance report in the United states, of 143,286 procedures that progressed to the ET stage, 50.9% resulted in a pregnancy and 41.4% in a live-birth. Achieving higher pregnancy and live birth rates remains a leading priority of IVF units worldwide. Both IVF practitioners and patients keep searching for new ways to improve reproductive outcomes.

IVF is a multidimensional stressor. The treatment itself constitutes the primary stressor and is most likely to evoke anxiety. The highest anxiety scores were experienced before embryo transfer and were comparable to anxiety scores obtained from surgical female patients in the immediate preoperative period. Hence, it is not surprising that ET is defined by many investigators as a crucial event for determining IVF outcome, and many patients perceive it as the culmination of the IVF treatment. The stress this procedure may cause can result in a variety of autonomous nervous system expressions, altered uterine gene expression, resulting in decreased uterine receptivity, or an increase in uterine contraction frequency, which may be inversely correlated to embryo implantation and pregnancy rates in IVF. Several studies found that women who did not become pregnant with IVF, reported experiencing more stress during treatment than those who achieved pregnancy.

Although the exact mechanism whereby stress interferes with reproductive processes is not fully understood, experimental evidence increasingly indicates that lower stress levels result in better fertility treatment outcome.

The use of complementary medicine or adjuvant therapies to reduce psychological stress during ART therapy and improve IVF outcomes is increasing. Various alternative therapies have been proposed to improve reproductive outcomes during IVF treatment, such as acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines. However, the impact of these therapies on IVF outcomes was inconclusive.

The impact of medical clowning as a stress-reducing technique for 12-15 minutes after ET was found to increase the pregnancy rate - 36.4% in the intervention group compared with 20.2% in the control group. Other interventions, specifically prior or during the IVF-ET procedure itself have been studied in the context of improving cycle outcome and/or reducing anxiety levels.

In order to assess anxiety levels before and after interventions, most of these studies included the validated "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory" (STAI) questionnaire, which is a self-assessment questionnaire, consisting of 40 items rated on 4-point Likert scale. The scale consists of two sub-dimensions: the "state anxiety" has 20 items and is used to determine what is felt at a specific moment under certain conditions, and the "trait anxiety" has 20 items and is used to determine what has been felt in the last seven days. Higher scores are positively correlated with higher levels of anxiety. Other studies assessing stress related to ET procedure used salivary a-amylase (SAA). SAA measurement presents a non-invasive and a highly reliable indicator of sympathetic-adrenal medullary activity can be used as a physiologic indicator of the acute stress response.

The impact of hypnosis during ET on the outcome of IVF was studied in 89 patients, compared with controls. The results suggested that the use of hypnosis during ET may significantly improve the IVF-ET cycle outcome in terms of increased implantation rates (IR) and clinical pregnancy rates (CPR).

Harp therapy during ET of 90 IVF patients was found to significantly decrease levels of anxiety post transfer and having a positive effect on acute levels of stress, compared with controls. However, CPR was comparable between the harp group and the control group. Another study assessed the effectiveness of a deep relaxation massage therapy prior to frozen ET in 56 IVF patients. In patients using the massage therapy prior to ET, statistically significant increases in pregnancy and live birth rates were observed when compared with the control group (58.9% vs 41.7%, and 32.0% vs 20.3%, respectively). The researchers hypothesized these improvements were most likely due to a relaxing effect on patients and reduction in stress, leading to a reduction in uterine contractions.

A recent randomized controlled trial assessed the effect of music therapy in women undergoing IVF-ET. They examined the effect of music therapy before and after ET, on the anxiety levels and pregnancy rates in 89 IVF patients. The mean state anxiety scores decreased in both groups, however these changes did not reach statistical significance. CPR were comparable between the groups.

Virtual reality (VR) is a therapeutic approach which has been gaining attention over the past two decades for both medical and psychiatric purposes. VR is an advanced technological system that allows users to be transported into a 'virtual world'. Users are engaged in a fully immersive VR experience through a combination of technologies, including a head-mounted display, headphones with sound/music and noise reduction, and another device for manipulation/navigation of the virtual environment. Multimodal stimuli contribute to a sense of actual presence/immersion in the virtual world, thus making the VR experience distinct from a passive visual or auditory stimuli. Being a safe, non-invasive and easy to use technique, VR therapy has been explored for numerous health applications, showing positive outcomes in clinical conditions such as anxiety disorders, addictions, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, stroke rehabilitation, and pain management. A recent systematic review including 11 VR studies and 467 patients, concluded that VR's immersive, entertaining effects are useful for redirecting the patient's attention away from painful treatment experiences and reducing anxiety, discomfort, or unpleasantness. Other studies also showed a significant decrease in pain perception and state anxiety scores when treated with VR, as indicated by anxiety questionnaires, pulse rate reduction, and electroencephalogram (EEG) changes when treated with VR as compared with controls, all supporting the therapeutic potential of VR for anxiety management and stress reduction.

A study presented at the 2018 anesthesia congress in Europe (Unpublished data) compared the effect of two different VR sessions (distraction and hypnosis) before sedation, on the anxiety level and the following cycle outcomes in 100 IVF patients. The preliminary results of the study showed a reduction in the anxiety scores in both groups, however the differences between the groups did not reach statistical significance.

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of VR technology on the most stressful event during IVF—the transfer of embryos into the uterus. The investigators will use the STAI questionnaire to assess levels of anxiety experienced during the ET procedure, in participants exposed to VR session before the ET, compared with participants who are not exposed.

The investigators hypothesize that the use of this unique technology before the procedure may reduce stress levels and consequently improve implantation and pregnancy rates.

According to a recent literature review, there are no published studies examining the effect of VR prior to ET on IVF outcomes.