Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is an assisted reproduction technique that involves directly injecting a single sperm into an egg. This procedure is often used to overcome male infertility that is the result of sperm issues.
Now, fertility experts have developed a method to potentially improve the success of ICSI. The technique uses a high-magnification microscope to choose the healthiest sperm, which is then injected into an egg.
The microscope magnifies sperm 7,200 times, at which point a computerized semen analysis identifies the best sperm for insemination. This procedure is named intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI).
A fertility clinic in India has used the technique on 900 patients and reported a 10% increase in the rate of pregnancy from artificial insemination.
Other clinics have not observed such high rates of success, therefore the technique is not always offered to patients. Additionally, IMSI costs significantly more than traditional ICSI.
