Aurora niPCT™ for ICSI

If you’re having trouble becoming pregnant, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be the right choice for you and so might the Aurora niPCT™.

An IVF cycle involves several different steps that will help you increase your chances of becoming pregnant with the most important step — selecting the best embryo with the highest potential resulting in a birth of a healthy baby.

The Aurora niPCT™ is an innovative, non-invasive molecular test which analyses the cells surrounding the egg (also known as oocyte). These cells, called cumulus cells, are normally removed during ICSI treatment and by analysing these discarded cells, we can predict which eggs will give you the highest chance of having a baby.

improving your chances with aurora niPCT™ at first attempt

With the Aurora niPCT™, you’re likely to get pregnant faster, saving time, cost, and emotional stress compared to routine visual embryo evaluation.

How does it work?

Aurora niPCT™ for egg freezing

More and more women are postponing their decision to become a parent. In recent years, women finally got the option to freeze their eggs in order to preserve fertility and provide the freedom to decide when they want to start a family.

If you decide to freeze your eggs, you need to undergo a series hormonal stimulations for the purpose of maximizing the number of eggs retrieved. The Aurora niPCT™ will rank your eggs retrieved in that stimulation cycle from the highest quality egg to the lowest. These results can be applied in the future to help the embryologist prioritizing the eggs with the highest potential of giving a baby and shortening the time to parenthood for you.

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Not all oocytes are equal… but now you can tell which ones will thrive

The Aurora niPCT™ is the first clinically proven, non-invasive test that looks at what truly matters: the oocyte’s biological potential itself. By analysing the cumulus cells that naturally surround and support the egg, Aurora niPCT™ decodes the molecular signals of highest potential. Unlike imaging or culture-based assessments, it doesn’t guess — it measures. Unlike invasive genetic testing, it causes no harm. And unlike many emerging tools, it is already validated in clinical practice, where it has significantly increased pregnancy and live birth rates on the very first transfer.

The Aurora niPCT™ accuracy for a live birth for patients stimulated with

Results of our studies

Increased live birth rate and clinical pregnancy rate for SET

Results of our latest prospective interventional study showed that in the Aurora niPCT™ test arm (also called Aurora Test) with single embryo transfer (SET) on day 3, the clinical pregnancy rate increased significantly from 27 % to 63 % in the first fresh transfer cycle. Compared to day 5 SET — from 43 % to 63 %. Moreover, significantly increased live birth rate was detected between day 3 transfers. These were ICSI patients stimulated with HP-hMG. In the control arms patients had morphological scoring only. Read more …

 

Increased cumulative pregnancy rate

In an earlier clinical study cumulative rates were followed up and the Aurora niPCT™ Test also significantly increased the cumulative pregnancy rate from 56% to 78% in comparison to the day 3 control group when the patient underwent consecutive cycles. Read more …

 

Increased pregnancy rate at a first try and shorter time-to-pregnancy rate

 

Results of our clinical study showed a significantly shorter time-to-pregnancy in the Aurora niPCT™ Test arm with fresh or frozen SET compared to control group. When considering all patients with at least two transferable embryos, three additional transfers were needed in the control arm to achieve the same clinical pregnancy.  Read more …

 

Principle based on science

The Aurora niPCT™ is performed on cumulus cells surrounding the oocytes of a patient and it is based on the measurement of the expression of specific genes. Cumulus cells are individually removed from each oocyte and RNA is extracted from the cumulus cells. Real-time PCR is performed for predictive genes and two control genes that leads to a quantitative ranking for all oocytes. Find out more:

Aurora niPCT™ is applicable for

• fresh transfers
• frozen transfers
• donor cycles
• social oocyte freezing

The Aurora niPCT™ is performed on cumulus cells from all oocytes from a patient and follows the same molecular testing as for an ICSI patient. The oocytes are ranked, and then, in the future, the highest-ranked oocytes can be used first. The oocytes must be frozen individually. Read more….

Aurora niPCT™ service time line

In case there is no pregnancy from the first transfer, the supernumerary embryos which were vitrified individually will also be transferred following the Aurora score.

If a frozen eSET is scheduled, the samples can be shipped later but must arrive at Fertiga’s clinical testing lab at least a week before the transfer.

If you want more information on Standardizing Pre-Analytical Conditions for Reliable Non-invasive Preimplantation Cumulus Cell Testing, contact us for a White paper.

Our research

1. Adriaenssens T, Van Vaerenbergh I, Van Leuven W, Coucke W, Montenegro S, Zheng W, D’Hooghe T, Van Landuyt L, De Munck N, Van Hecke E, Smitz J, Rosenthal A, Blockeel C.Live birth in patients stimulated with r-hFSH or r-hFSH: r-hLH is strongly associated with cumulus cell derived gene expression models. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2025;23(163). doi:1186/s12958-025-01480-2
2. Van Vaerenbergh I, Adriaenssens T, Coucke W, Van Landuyt L, Verheyen G, De Brucker M, Camus M, Platteau P, De Vos M, Van Hecke E, Rosenthal A, Smitz J. Improved clinical outcomes after non-invasive oocyte selection and Day 3 eSET in ICSI patients. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2021;19(1):26. doi: 1186/s12958-021-00704-5
3. Adriaenssens T, Van Vaerenbergh I, Coucke W, Segers I, Verheyen G, Anckaert E, De Vos M, Smitz J. Cumulus-corona gene expression analysis combined with morphological embryo scoring in single embryo transfer cycles increases live birth after fresh transfer and decreases time to pregnancy. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2019;36(3):433-443. doi: 1007/s10815-018-01398-2
4. Wathlet S, Adriaenssens T, Segers I, Verheyen G, Van Landuyt L, Coucke W, Devroey P, Smitz J. Pregnancy prediction in single embryo transfer cycles after ICSI using QPCR: validation in oocytes from the same cohort. PLoS One. 2013;8(4):e54226. doi: 1371/journal.pone.0054226
5. Wathlet S, Adriaenssens T, Segers I, Verheyen G, Janssens R, Coucke W, Devroey P, Smitz J. New candidate genes to predict pregnancy outcome in single embryo transfer cycles when using cumulus cell gene expression. Fertil Steril. 2012;98(2):432-9.e1-4. doi: 1016/j.fertnstert.2012.05.007
6. Wathlet S, Adriaenssens T, Segers I, Verheyen G, Van de Velde H, Coucke W, Ron El R, Devroey P, Smitz J. Cumulus cell gene expression predicts better cleavage-stage embryo or blastocyst development and pregnancy for ICSI patients. Hum Reprod. 2011;26(5):1035-51. doi: 1093/humrep/der036
7. Adriaenssens T, Segers I, Wathlet S, Smitz J. The cumulus cell gene expression profile of oocytes with different nuclear maturity and potential for blastocyst formation. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2011;28(1):31-40. doi: 1007/s10815-010-9481-9
8. Adriaenssens T, Wathlet S, Segers I, Verheyen G, De Vos A, Van der Elst J, Coucke W, Devroey P, Smitz J. Cumulus cell gene expression is associated with oocyte developmental quality and influenced by patient and treatment characteristics. Hum Reprod. 2010;25(5):1259-70. doi: 1093/humrep/deq049

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“We tried to have a baby for more than one year and we hoped this was our solution. Quickly I realized that the many doctor visits and hormones brought a lot of emotional stress and pressure on my partner and on my job. I learned about the Aurora niPCT™ , a safe test that could help me get pregnant faster. No doubt, we immediately agreed to get it. I had 7 oocytes resulting in 4 viable embryos. The test allowed the embryologist to transfer the best embryo. And guess what, I was pregnant after my first transfer!”

–  Jennifer, 30 years

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“We had one baby after IVF and were dreaming about our second one. We were still considering when a friend told us about the Aurora niPCT™. It would increase our chances as the best embryo could be chosen from the best-scoring egg. It appealed to us and we decided to go for it. I had 12 oocytes and 7 viable embryos. We were so happy that the Aurora niPCT™ could help the embryologist in his decision and got it right from the first transfer.”

– Sarah, 34 years

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“I wished to have a child, but I definitely underestimated how hard the process would be. And it wasn’t cheap either. The stress, the money, the many discussions. When the doctor told us about the Aurora niPCT™, I convinced my wife to get it. She is very anti-genetic testing and is scared about all new technologies. However, the Aurora niPCT™ does not touch the embryo. It is not a genetic test and is safe. It helped us to get pregnant faster and saved us a lot of money. Thank you Fertiga for making our dreams come true.”

– Eric, 32 years

Read more about the Aurora niPCT™

Disclaimer:

Names and images featured in “Success stories” are representative and have been changed to protect patient privacy. 

Fertiga, a pioneering biotech spin-off from UZ Brussel and Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), is transforming assisted reproduction. Leveraging cutting-edge research, Fertiga introduces the Aurora niPCT™, a non-invasive diagnostic tool that enhances IVF success by accurately identifying the most viable oocytes.

Our motto is one try, one child.

Our mission

We aim to make fertility treatments more effective, more accessible and less burdensome. Our goal is to help as many women as possible to achieve pregnancy on the first attempt.

Our values

• Make a difference – advancing fertility treatment through science and innovation.

• Empower patient success – continuously improving outcomes by close monitoring of performance.

• Solve meaningful problems – tackling physical, financial, end emotional challenges with creativity, teamwork, and resilience.

Meet our team

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Please take a moment to fill out the contact form below if you have any questions or want more information and a member of our Fertiga team will be in touch with you shortly.

We welcome feedback and complaints from clients through the contact form above. All complaints are recorded in our quality management system. You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt within 5 working days. Complaints are investigated objectively and treated confidentially by an authorized member of staff. Upon completion of the investigation, you will receive feedback on the findings and, where applicable, any corrective actions taken.