Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment
In roughly 40 percent of infertility cases preventing a couple from conceiving a child, male infertility is a sole cause or contributing factor. Fertility drugs followed by in vitro fertilization (IVF) is the gold standard in addressing severe infertility issues. However, when the viability of the sperm is the primary issue preventing conception, an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) may be recommended by your fertility specialist. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment is an effective adjunct procedure used as part of the in vitro fertilization process which methodically addresses male infertility. ICSI treatment injects sperm into the egg in order to achieve egg fertilization and increase a couple's chances in becoming pregnant. It is not to be confused with artificial insemination, which involves injecting a batch of semen into the vagina or uterus through means other than sexual intercourse.
ICSI treatment has taken in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to the next level. Normally, in IVF, eggs and sperm are harvested and then placed together in the laboratory where healthy sperm fertilize eggs upon contact. However, in male infertility cases, where the sperm is unable to penetrate the egg on its own, ICSI allows for selection of a single sperm and ensures its success by delivering it directly into the cytoplasm of the egg.
To schedule a consultation with a fertility specialist in that can provide intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment, call or contact us online.
Reasons to Consider Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment
ICSI treatment maximizes not only fertilization rates, but pregnancy and live birth rates as well. For that reason, even couples who do not have severe male infertility to contend with are choosing ICSI fertility treatment over traditional IVF procedures simply to increase their chances of success.
When a couple is facing extreme male infertility issues and will not consider an alternate sperm donor, ICSI is the go-to procedure. Some clinics will only use ICSI in extreme male infertility cases, while others offer it as an option to any couple using IVF. There is no established standard of care for determining when ICSI is an option. Some of the criteria used for determining if ICSI is a recommended treatment include:
Impaired sperm motility, low sperm concentrations or very poor sperm morphology
History of unsuccessful IVF procedures
Low rates of successful egg aspiration where ICSI treatment is a way to maximize success in fertilizing a limited number of available eggs
What to Expect from Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment is very similar to traditional IVF procedures. The female undergoes a course of fertility drugs to increase her production of eggs for harvesting. The eggs are then retrieved from the female and fertilized in the laboratory. Successful embryos are transferred into the uterus. There are no additional risks or downtime when ICSI is included as an adjunct to IVF. The procedure occurs in the laboratory between the embryologist, the sperm sample and the harvested eggs.
The only difference with ICSI treatment is the step where the ICSI needle is used to aspirate a single sperm from a sperm sample or, in some cases, directly from the testicles. ICSI takes the single sperm and microscopically inserts it into a single egg using inverted microscopes and specially-designed ICSI micro-equipment. With a microscopic ICSI needle, embryologists aspirate an individual sperm and then delicately penetrate the outer layers of the human female egg directly with the needle to inject that sperm directly into the cytoplasm of the egg—thus the term intracytoplasmic.
If you've been suffering from infertility, the fertility treatment, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), can be a safe and effective way to treat your condition. Request more information about ICSI and other aspects of assisted reproductive technology (ART) today. Call or contact us online.
