Kinetic Energy and the Free Energy Principle in the Birth of Human Life

Abstract

The retrospective noninterventional study investigated the kinetic energy of video images of 18 fertilized eggs (7 were normal and 11 were abnormal) recorded by a time-lapse device leading up to the beginning of the first cleavage. The norm values of cytoplasmic particles were measured by the optical flow method. Three phase profiles for normal cases were found regarding the kinetic energy: 2.199 × 10−24 ± 2.076 × 10−24, 2.369 × 10−24 ± 1.255 × 10−24, and 1.078 × 10−24 ± 4.720 × 10−25 (J) for phases 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In phase 2, the energies were 2.369 × 10−24 ± 1.255 × 10−24 and 4.694 × 10−24 ± 2.996 × 10−24 (J) (mean ± SD, p = 0.0372), and the time required was 8.114 ± 2.937 and 6.018 ± 5.685 (H) (p = 0.0413) for the normal and abnormal cases, respectively. The kinetic energy change was considered a condition for applying the free energy principle, which states that for any self-organized system to be in equilibrium in its environment, it must minimize its informational free energy. The kinetic energy, while interpreting it in terms of the free energy principle suggesting clinical usefulness, would further our understanding of the phenomenon of fertilized egg development with respect to the birth of human life.

Keywords

• assisted reproductive technology
• free energy principle
• in vitro fertilization
• sterility
• time-lapse