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ICSI is a procedure utilized to treat
moderate to severe male factor infertility. It is performed in
the embryology laboratory and involves the injection of a  single
sperm directly into an oocyte (egg) for the purpose of creating
embryos. ICSI is a form of in vitro fertilization because fertilization
occurs in a laboratory, but is different from "routine"
IVF because the sperm is injected with microsurgical instruments
into an oocyte. Couples with male infertility, prior demonstration
of poor fertilization or polyspermic fertilization are candidates
for ICSI.
ICSI is a revolutionary procedure and allows men with little or
no sperm in their ejaculates to create genetically related children.
The sperm is collected and concentrated from the ejaculate or
it can be directly retrieved from the male's reproductive tract
using testicular sperm extraction (TESE) or microscopic epididymal
sperm aspiration (MESA). Oftentimes, sperm are present in the
male reproductive tract even though there are none in the ejaculate.
Our Dallas, Texas fertility clinic laboratory has "state of the art"
equipment for performing ICSI including a micromanipulator, microsurgical
tools, and specialized microscopes. ICSI is a delicate procedure
and our embryology team has years of successful clinical experience. Our board certified fertility specialists oversee all aspects of our Dallas, Tx laboratory.
Sometimes preimplantation genetic diagnosis, (PGD) is employed in cases of a potential known genetic disorder. Like ICSI, PGD is performed in conjunction with IVF at our Texas location. PGD allows the embryologist to screen for an abnormal number of chromosomes and/or identify broken or translocated chromosomes.
Assisted hatching is a laboratory procedure performed
only on embryos (not oocytes) that are 3 days old. This procedure
involves the creation of an artificial opening in the zona pellucida,
the glycoprotein coating or shell surrounding the embryo. This
opening can be created mechanically with microsurgical tools,
with a laser, or chemically with acid Tyrode's solution.
While assisted hatching is performed in many ART
clinics, this procedure is not clearly beneficial and even considered
experimental by some physicians and clinics. As agreed upon by
our ARTS team, assisted hatching is not routinely performed for
IVF patients. Only couples with individual treatment plans prescribing
assisted hatching will be offered the procedure.
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