Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is truly one of the marvels of assisted reproductive technology in the Maldives. Rather than simply placing the two sex cells in a petri dish filled with a medium to encourage fertilization, ICSI more closely assures the process by doing some of the sperm’s work. Specifically, by using this micro-manipulation technique, doctors can bypass problems that the sperm may have with penetration of the zona pellucida, the egg’s outer shell.
Accordingly, one must undergo in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to use the ICSI technique, and you’ll often see it referred to as IVF/ICSI.
In brief, the procedure involves the following steps:
- The woman uses fertility medication for “superovulation.”
- A sperm sample obtained, either through masturbation, via an extraction technique, or a donor and appropriately “washed.”
- Oocytes (eggs) harvested, processed, and observed for maturity and potential.
- The sperm solution placed in a petri dish.
- Prepared oocytes then placed in the same dish.
- Using two pipettes, one to hold the egg and one to inject the sperm, a single chosen sperm first aspirated into the pipette tail and swiftly injected into the egg’s cytoplasm.
- The eggs are then evaluated for fertilization at 12 hours post-injection and 24 hours for cleavage (assisted hatching may be necessary).
- Approximately 72 hours post-injection, good-quality embryos are ready for transfer to the woman’s uterus or cryopreservation.
The Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago and the Assisted Conception Unit of University College Hospital in London use photographic images to describe the intracytoplasmic sperm injection process. In addition, Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers video clips of ICSI procedures.
Advantages of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection
- ICSI might permit you and your spouse equivalent to conceive your genetic kid once other choices are close to you.
- If your domestic partner just too anxious to ejaculate on the day of egg assortment for traditional IVF, gamete will instead be extracted for ICSI.
- ICSI may also be wont to facilitate couples with unexplained sterility; tho’ specialists haven’t found that ICSI makes maternity even further possible than normal IVF.
- ICSI does not affect how kids formed via the procedure develop mentally or physically.
Who Benefits From ICSI?
In general, intracytoplasmic sperm injection a treatment for male-factor infertility. This procedure mechanically ups the fertilization odds so that only one “good” sperm needed to fertilize each harvested oocyte. More specifically, some of the male situations that ICSI can treat are:
- Low sperm concentrate, including the complete absence of sperm in the azalea
- Morphology (Shape) percentage Low Sperm
- Motility in (Movement) Low Sperm
In addition, the following conditions may be remedied by the use of ICSI:
- Patients who have not achieved success with standard IVF
- Diagnosis of anti-sperm antibodies bound to spermatozoa or female anti-sperm antibodies
Each clinic uses criteria to indicate which patients are good candidates for ICSI. For details on types of sperm problems for which ICSI may be used, see IVF treatment in Maldives.
What Are The Stats?
First applied to human gametes in 1988, the first pregnancies resulting from ICSI were reported in 1992. It has become the treatment of choice for individuals with male-factor infertility. In general, success depends on the following variables:
- the viability of the spermatozoon
- the quality of the oocyte
- effective activation of the oocyte, and
- Tolerant of manipulation within the oocyte.
Along with the risks of IVF, individuals using ICSI incur additional risks specific to the micromanipulation of gametes.
According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s fact sheet, one can expect IVF Successful for the First Time rates of 50 per cent and cleavage rates of 80 per cent; however, “only 15 to 20 per cent of egg retrievals produce a baby”, and factors like poor egg quality or maternal age may result in lower percentages. In addition, the same fact sheet states that the risk of congenital disabilities for babies born due to ICSI and in the general population is similar.
The impact of ICSI’s use on resulting progeny debated. Concern expressed regarding this ability to bypass the potential “natural order” of male fertility, with fears that resulting children have higher than average rates of congenital abnormalities. Studies being conducted to address these concerns with various conclusions. However, all agree that more time needed to assess the long-term impact fully, and many would encourage individuals using ICSI to engage in genetic counseling, preimplantation diagnosis, and prenatal diagnosis throughout the process.