Effort in manual operation of reproductive health cryostorage facilities

Abstract

Research question: What areas of manual IVF cryostorage operations are common to the safe operation of IVF cryostorage facilities and require effort from embryologists?

Design: Observational time and motion data were collected by two observers equipped with the digital cameras over 2 weeks at four well-characterized US IVF centres (sites α, β, γ and δ) from 12 participants performing cryostorage tasks. To understand the work processes of the different sites and assist in the data analysis, informal interviews were conducted with the study participants and laboratory directors. Data were analysed to identify work processes that might be eliminated or diminished by automation and software improvements.

Results: On average, it took 3.4 data record queries per retrieval from cryostorage to identify a cane, while the canister was lifted an average of 1.5 times per retrieval, with a mean 11.8 ± 9.2 s per lift. Of the total time spent working with cryostorage equipment, 47.25% was of a fatiguing nature. Sites α, β and γ utilized one person to fill the liquid nitrogen storage Dewars, while site δ had two technicians working in tandem to move and fill the Dewars, with different frequencies and determination factors for refills and efficiencies.

Conclusions: This time and motion study demonstrated significant time investment, task redundancy and fatiguing working conditions among embryologists using manual cryostorage processes. There was a disparity of processes and space capacity across different laboratories. Some of these issues may be addressed by the integration of automation and technology solutions.

Keywords: Cane retrieval; Cryostorage; Embryologist; Fatiguing work conditions; Specimen identification.