Intra Cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in which a single sperm cell is injected directly into the cytoplasm of an egg. This technique is used in order to prepare the gametes for the obtention of embryos that may be transferred to a maternal uterus. With this method acrosome reaction is skipped.
There are several differences within classic IVF and ICSI. However, the steps to be followed before and after insemination are the same. In terms of insemination, ICSI needs one only sperm cell per oocyte, meanwhile IVF needs between 50 and 100 thousands. This is due to the fact that in IVF acrosome reaction has to take place and thousands of sperm cells have to be involved. Once fertilized, the egg is transformed into a proembryo and it has to be transferred to the uterus to continue its development.
Defective sperm function remains the single most important cause of human infertility. Although certain severe forms of male infertility have a genetic origin, others may be the result of environmental factors. During the past decade, ICSI has been applied increasingly around the world to alleviate problems of severe male infertility in human patients who either could not be assisted by conventional IVF procedures or could not be accepted for IVF because too few motile and morphologically normal sperm were present in the ejaculate of the male partner.
– Dr. Sarita Koratala
Aaradhya Fertility Center
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