You may be offered ICSI as part of your IVF treatment if sperm numbers and/or activity are very low. In such cases, there is a significant risk that very few eggs (or even no eggs at all) would fertilise during the standard IVF treatment. ICSI fertilisation rates are similar to those achieved with standard IVF.
ICS procedure
How ICSI works
For the most part, your IVF treatment with ICSI will follow the standard pattern. The difference lies in how we handle the eggs and sperm after egg collection.
During standard IVF, we mix the eggs and sperm and incubate them overnight. The hope is that sperm will bind to the egg and a single sperm will penetrate into the egg, resulting in fertilisation.
During the ICSI technique, the laboratory scientist takes a hand in all this. First, we examine your eggs carefully under a microscope to select mature ones. We then inject each mature egg with a single sperm using a microscope and very precise equipment. This is the ‘injection’ in the name of the procedure.
ICS sperm injection
If you would like more information, please contact us.