ICSI is one of the most commonly known treatments after IVF (in-vitro fertilisation).
ICSI is a sophisticated form of IVF that overcomes any issues that prevent the sperm fertilising the egg naturally.
Once you have chosen to have ICSI treatment you will be given follicle stimulating drugs which will increase the production of eggs within the body, maximising the number of eggs available for fertilisation. Scans will reveal the optimum time for these eggs to be collected and you will be asked to attend the clinic on a specific day for these eggs to be collected under sedation. The process for you would be the same as with standard IVF.
The difference between IVF and ICSI is that with with IVF eggs and sperm are mixed together in a test tube or petri dish, whilst with ICSI sperm are injected into eggs. With ICSI one sperm is injected into each egg collected as shown in the video clip below:
A sperm sample is obtained on the day of egg collection or where applicable in advance under sedation using surgical techniques such as PESA or TESE otherwise known as Surgical Sperm Retrieval – SSR.
Our expert team of Andrologists and embryologists select the best single sperm to inject directly into the egg, from this point of fertilisation an embryo then develops.
ICSI can be very effective for treating: