ICSI & cIVF

For more information on the ICSI Procedure, read below. For further questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at anytime.

Frequently asked questions

ICSI

General

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The Procedure

1. Aspiration

2. Injection

(Not included in IVF)

3. Transfer

Transvaginal Aspiration

An aspiration probe with a forward facing ultrasound and a needle guide is introduced into the vagina and advanced beside the cervix. Rectally, the ovary is pulled back to the face of the probe, allowing the follicles on the ovary to be visualized on the ultrasound. The needle is advanced into each follicle and the eggs is aspirated as the needle is rotated

to scrape the oocytes from the follicular wall.

Searching

The flask is filtered thru an embryo filter, the filter is scraped into a search dish where the oocytes are found and placed into a holding incubator for 24 hours.

Maturation

After being in the holding incubator, the oocytes are moved into maturation media for an additional 24 hours.

Stripping

Mature oocytes will be stripped of granulosa cells prior to being injected.

Injection

Using micromanipulators and a high powered microscope, one sperm is injected into each oocyte with an injection pipette that is one third the diameter of a human hair.

Cleavage Check

4 days after injection, growing embryos will have divided several times, becoming a morula, look like a raspberry.

Finished Embryos

Seven days after injection is the first day to see a blastocyst (an embryo ready for transfer or freezing). Days 7-12 post injection are all potentially viable embryos. Days 11 and 12 are typically less viable than the younger 7-10 day embryos

Freezing

Embryos developed off season or extra embryos from seasonal cycles can be effectively frozen for future use. This year we transferred an embryo frozen in 2015, and it became pregnant. Freezing embryos in the fall gives you a headstart on next year.

Transfer

Transferring the embryo (blastocyst or expanded blastocyst) is similar to transferring a flushed embryo however we use a recipient mare ideally 4 days post-ovulation. Pregnancy rates after transfer are comparable for fresh ICSI embryos, frozen ICSI embryos, fresh flushed embryos and cIVF embryos, all usually in the low 80% range. However, loss rates are the highest in the thawed ICSI, (12-18%), then the fresh ICSI embryos, (10-15%), then the fresh flushed and cIVF loss rates are only about 4%.