Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI)
Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) – This is a special technique that can be used in conjunction to an IVF cycle. It involves taking a single sperm and injecting it into an egg to form an embryo. This technology can be used to facilitate embryo creation when the male partner has a very low sperm count.
Sometimes people ask what the difference is between IVF and ICSI. The processes are exactly the same except in IVF a drop of concentrated semen is placed on each egg in the lab and fertilization takes place without further intervention. A high concentration of sperm is required for fertilization to take place. In ICSI, each egg is individually injected with one sperm. As only one sperm is required for ICSI fertilization, it allows us to overcome the problem of a low sperm count. In rare cases when there is no sperm in a man’s semen analysis, we can in some circumstances, biopsy the testes to obtain a small number of sperm, and use ICSI to fertilize eggs.