Many couples are afraid that eggs or sperm could be mixed up during their treatment. In 2010, we were therefore the first and so far only fertility centre in Germany to introduce the RI-Witness system in addition to our regular safety measures. This is a computer-assisted monitoring system that documents every work step in our laboratory and actively prevents possible mix-ups.
Each sample vessel is clearly assigned to a pair of patients with the help of special stickers. The computer programme thus automatically recognises whose sample is at the workstation. If samples that do not belong to each other are brought into the work area, an acoustic and visual alarm is immediately triggered. Further work is no longer possible. This system is recommended in England by the responsible supervisory authority of the IVF centres and has been used successfully there for years. The use of the system in our practice thus guarantees our patients the highest standard of quality and safety.