OVOIL™
OVOIL™ is a 100% paraffin oil. OVOIL HEAVY™ is a synthetic high viscosity oil. Both of them are produced in a highly controlled process from extensively tested and selected LOTs of raw material.
Description OVOIL is a light paraffin oil. OVOIL HEAVY is a high viscosity oil. Both are sterile filtered.
Purpose Oil for covering of medium during in vitro fertilisation and micromanipulation procedures.
Application For use after equilibration at +37°C in CO2-incubator or ambient atmosphere, depending on the intended use.
Storage Store dark at +2 to +8°C. During transportation temperature may exceed +8°C but not +25°C for a maximum of seven days.
The choice is yours
While OVOIL™ is a light paraffin oil, OVOIL HEAVY™ is a synthetic paraffin oil – with a higher viscosity that some users feel offers improved handling qualities over lighter oils. While this naturally is a question of preference, we are pleased to now be able to offer two culture oils that cater to whichever yours might be.
OVOIL and OVOIL HEAVY have gone through the same rigorous quality testing, making both oils ideally suited for the IVF procedures of today. This means you can choose the oil that best corresponds with your handling preferences – without having to compromise on quality and performance.
Together. All the way™
Through thick and thin
Oil for IVF should do nothing but protect the culture. It should not have any negative influence on the gametes, embryos or media. Most clinics today use oil to cover embryo culture dishes in order to maintain a stable temperature, osmolality and pH. The quality of such oil plays a very important role in IVF success.
Do you know the characteristics of the perfect oil for IVF?
Read this blog post for a guide through different types of oil and things to consider when choosing oil for your IVF culture.
Read blog post
The importance of peroxide-free oil for embryo culture
Download a scientific summary from Japanese researcher Otsuki to learn more about why high peroxide levels in oil can harm the culture system and the results from peroxide values in oil from different manufacturers.
Download summaryComparison between mineral oil and paraffin oil
In a study by Tae et al. bovine embryo development was studied in cultures overlaid with either washed mineral or sterile paraffin oil.
Sterile filtered paraffin oil overlay resulted in significantly higher (p<0.05) development rate to morula (44.8% versus 30.6%) and blastocyst (32.8% versus 21.7%) than washed mineral oil.
Extensively quality tested
- Sperm sensitivity testing
- 1-cell mouse embryo assays
- Sensitive CF1 mouse strain on raw material
- 1 cell, F1 hybrid mouse on finished product
- Mouse embryo assays with multiple endpoints
- Blastocyst differentiation staining and cell counts
Read more on how to ensure embryo viablity in your culture system:
Read blog post
OVOIL HEAVY
OVOIL HEAVY is not just any other oil.
OVOIL HEAVY is the world’s first synthetically derived paraffin oil – developed, manufactured, tested and certified specifically for clinical IVF. With consistently high lot-to-lot quality and increased viscosity, OVOIL HEAVY provides exceptional safety for your embryo culture while improving handling qualities in the lab.
Read blog post
Adding a layer of safety
One of the most critical components in a culture media system is oil 1. Vitrolife’s oils, OVOIL and OVOIL HEAVY, provide a protective environment for your culture systems. With carefully selected and tested raw materials, they support optimal control of:
- Ambient handling conditions through stable
temperature and pH. - Osmolality during uninterrupted culture.
- Toxicity, backed by testing that surpasses industry
standard quality controls 2.
The two oils are equally supportive; the choice depends on your preference 3.
Improved handling thanks to higher viscosity
It is important to have an oil that is easy to handle in the laboratory. One of the main benefits of OVOIL HEAVY is its higher viscosity, which in turn provides significantly improved handling qualities in the lab. 83,3% prefer OVOIL HEAVY when compared with their standard culture oil.
Light mineral oil in the left dish, OVOIL HEAVY in the right. Note how the droplets are less affected and you don't get oil as close to the rim in the right dish.
Refence: Embryotools data on file 2021
Heavy oil can be more supportive to safe handling
In a study by Vitrolife, presented at the 13th Biennial Alpha conference in Seville, 2022 the result was that "Heavy oil can be more supportive to safe handling in IVF procedures". In the study, more than 72% of embryologists stated that they would recommend the heavy oil to a colleague.
Download poster
It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it!
Download the scientific study abstract by Pa H. Vang, which show that the blastocyst cell count performed on MEA tests, are more sensitive endpoint than embryo development. End users should consider how a MEA is performed. It will help to minimize the risk of using suboptimal components within an IVF cycle, which will maximize the chance of success for each patient.
Download the MEA abstract
Let OVOIL HEAVY protect your embryo culture
Download the research summary for OVOIL HEAVY and learn why it provides exceptional safety for your embryo culture while improving handling qualities in the lab.
Download research summary
When comparing OVOIL HEAVY to former oils I felt it offers me as an embryologist many handling benefits. I like the viscosity, how easy it is to pipette and there is much less spilling when using it. The higher viscosity allows easier control when injecting sperm during ICSI. I trust this oil knowing that it is heavily quality tested with specific MEA for oil. Having visited the Vitrolife lab and observing the process of quality control that were used to manufacture their products I can 100% confidently recommend their heavy oil.
- Van Pham, Chief Embryologist at Aspire Fertility in Houston, The Prelude Network
We have been given the opportunity to test OVOIL HEAVY at the American Hospital of Paris. Happy users of the regular OVOIL for years we could not imagine to find a higher quality product. In fact OVOIL HEAVY happened to be a more easy to use product. It's high viscosity helps avoiding splashing and spilling during dish preparation and handling still with the same premium quality. OVOIL HEAVY met all our expectations and we decided to switch from the regular OVOIL to the heavy version.
- Dr. Frida Entezami, Lab manager of American Hospital of Paris
OVOIL
OVOIL is not just oil
Oils from six different manufacturers were tested and embryo development and viability was evaluated.
OVOIL showed significantly better development (p<0.01) for all embryo viability parameters studied, number of cells in the trophectoderm and in the inner cell mass, and total number of cells in the blastocysts.
Support Documents
Documents Language
Package inserts
English
Package insert OVOIL
Document and Ref: REF 20425, version 12
Package inserts
English
Package insert OVOIL
Document and Ref: REF 20425, version 10
Package inserts
English
Package insert OVOIL HEAVY - Multi-language
Document and Ref: REF 26908, version 03
Package inserts
English
Package insert OVOIL HEAVY - Multi-language
Document and Ref: REF 26908, version 01
Safety data sheets (SDS)
English
SDS OVOIL
Document and Ref: Date Revised : 06/27/2023. Revision No : 6. Safety data sheet for OVOIL
Safety data sheets (SDS)
English
SDS OVOIL HEAVY
Document and Ref: Date Revised : 04/29/2024. Revision No : 2. Safety data sheet for OVOIL HEAVY
Scientific summaries
English
Comparison of cover oils - OVOIL gives both more good and top quality embryos
Document and Ref: In a study by Sifer et el, microdroplet embryo cultures covered with OVOIL from Vitrolife gave a significantly increased mean number of good and top quality embryos at day 3, compared to other commercial available oils. This difference may be explained by the origin of raw materials and the difference in quality tests performed by each company.
Short protocols
English
Gx-Series™ Blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy
Document and Ref: REF 19180. Version 1. Date of issue 220923. his short protocol describes how to perform Blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy with OVOIL™, Gx-MOPS™ PLUS and Gx-TL™
Short protocols
English
Gx-Series™ Gx-TL Embryo Culture
Document and Ref: REF 19181. Version 1. Date of issue 220923. This short protocol describes how to perform embryo culture using Gx-TL™, OVOIL™ and Gx-MOPS™ PLUS.
Short protocols
English
G-Series™ ICSI procedure
Document and Ref: REF 19122. Version 02. Date of issue 220923. This short protocol describes how to perform ICSI using ICSI™, HYASE™-10x, OVOIL™ and G-Series medium G-MOPS™ PLUS .
Short protocols
English
Gx-Series™ ICSI procedure
Document and Ref: REF 19179. Version 1. Date of issue 220923 This short protocol describes how to perform ICSI using ICSI™, HYASE™-10x, OVOIL™ and Gx-Series medium Gx-MOPS™ PLUS and Gx-TL™
Short protocols
English
G-Series™ Embryo culture G-1 PLUS and G-2 PLUS
Document and Ref: REF 19183. Version 07. Date of issue 220923. This short protocol describes how to culture embryos from after fertilisation until the blastocyst stage using the G-Series™ sequential media G-1™ PLUS, G-2™ PLUS and OVOIL™.
Short protocols
English
G-Series™ Blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy
Document and Ref: REF 19126. Version 02. Date of issue 220923. This short protocol describes how to perform blastocyst trophectoderm biopsy using OVOIL™ and G-Series™ media, G-2™ PLUS or G-TL™ and G-MOPS™ PLUS
SSCP
English
SSCP OVOIL
Document and Ref: REP-4043. Version 7.0. 2025/04/10
SSCP
English
SSCP OVOIL HEAVY
Document and Ref: REP-4383. Version 7.0. 2025/04/10
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