Michelle Emblenton, a biochemist at inviTRA, tells us how the IMSI technique is performed step by step:
The IMSI procedure is pretty much the same as that used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Once the sperm sample is collected, it is taken to the laboratory, where it is processed. The sperm will be centrifuged to to remove them from the semen and resuspended in another medium whereby they can be studied. This sperm sample in IMSI will then be subjected to the ultra high power magnification. This may take between 1 and 6 hours, depending on who and how they are performing the task. A digital microscope is used and there is a monitor to visualize, in great detail, the individual sperm. Once the sperm have been chosen, we go back to a similar process of ICSI. The sperm sample is taken to the egg cells and aspirated into a micro injection needle where it will be injected directly into the egg cell, as with a standard IVF-ICSI procedure.
