Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is the microinjection of a sperm directly into the centre of a mature egg. This is a technically demanding procedure and is performed by a trained embryologist. This is a treatment option for patients with poor sperm motility, poor sperm morphology, a low sperm count, surgically recovered sperm, or sometimes for women using donor or thawed eggs. It is also used following the rare event of a failed fertilisation with the standard IVF technique. The success rates for ICSI are typically 20% - 40% depending on the age of the patient and other underlying medical conditions.

 ICSI Procedure

A fresh or frozen semen sample is prepared on the day of the procedure by a trained embryologist. Then after the egg collection, the eggs are washed and examined to determine which eggs are mature enough for injection.

Under a microscope, an embryologist specially trained in the ICSI technique, selects a single sperm for injection. Using a fine glass needle the sperm is aspirated and then injected into the centre of a selected egg. The injected eggs are cultured in labelled sterile culture dishes in an incubator overnight. The fertilised eggs or embryos are monitored daily and a good quality embryo is transferred to the woman’s uterus 2-6 days after injection.