New Method Can Find Hidden Eggs to Aid in Fertility Treatment

February 12, 2026

image of an oocyte being fertilized with a needle

(New York Times) – A study reported that the conventional method of searching follicular fluid didn’t find all the eggs. The new technology found extra eggs more than half the time.

Using the conventional method, embryologists use high-powered microscopes to search the follicular fluid extracted from women in fertility clinics. The fluid is then discarded. The study, published in Nature Medicine on Thursday, reported that a device that uses microfluidic technology to sift through follicular fluid found additional eggs for more than half of the patients. (Read More)