Residents of Bihar can now reap the benefits of an advanced artificial childbirth technique in the state capital.

Patna is the fourth city in the country, after Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad, where childless couples can go for embryoscope assisted by artificial human fertilisation technique.

The equipment for the process, acquired from Denmark, was installed at Srijan Fertility Clinic at Kankerbagh in east Patna on Tuesday.

Dr Himanshu Roy, the owner of the clinic, said the technique ensured 40-50 per cent success rate in cases of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and test-tube babies. Success rate in the conventional method is 20-30 per cent.

“This is an advanced technique. The first embryoscope baby was born in Spain only two years ago. Very few fertility clinics across the world are using this technology,” said Roy.

The embryoscope — that cost the clinic Rs 60 lakh — is a video-microscope that allows an embryologist to take multiple images of each embryo over a period of time by using time-lapse videography.

As a result, it is possible to review exactly how the embryo has develops over a period of three to five days, which it spends in the incubator. “This equipment makes it possible for doctors to monitor the developing fertilised egg continuously for up to five days. It means any abnormal changes can be spotted and the egg discarded if required. So, only the best eggs with the best chance of creating a healthy pregnancy are transferred to the womb of the patient, improving the outcome of the IVF,” Roy said.

The images show the egg dividing first into two cells, then four and so on until the developing embryo “hatches” out of it and is ready to be implanted in the womb. The new technique will, however, cost patients about Rs 10,000 more than conventional methods. Sources said the bill for conventional methods is between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000.