The essence of in vitro fertilization is the fusion of sperm and egg under laboratory conditions.
In vitro fertilization methods
The issue of infertility is much more frequent than you think and it concerns at present even 15% of couples in reproductive age. For many of them in vitro fertilisation is the only chance to conceive a child. In forty years, more than five million children have been born thanks to in vitro, and the number of couples who have fulfilled their dream of growing the family is constantly increasing. You can achieve it as well.
In vitro fertilization methods
Classic IVF fertilisation
Historically, the first successfully developed method of fertilisation. It involves the placement and incubation of sperm and egg cells. The sperm cells penetrate the egg cell on their own within a few hours, thus naturally triggering all physiological reactions, which makes the method most similar to fertilization conditions in the body.
The method is most often used in cases of mechanical infertility (obstruction or lack of fallopian tubes) and in cases where the parameters of semen allow for its use, i.e. the male factor is excluded or the when the parameters of this factor are close to normal. The number and the quality of the collected cells is also a prerequisite for application.
In vitro fertilisation methods
Conventional IVF fertilisation
Historically, this was the first effective fertilisation method. It is performed by transferring and incubating sperm cells with eggs. Sperm cells will penetrate an egg on their own within several hours, which is why all physiological reactions are naturally provoked, making fertilisation conditions most comparable to the ones in the body.
This method is most frequently used in case of mechanical infertility (obstruction or lack of fallopian tubes) and when semen parameters make it possible to use it, which means that male factor has been excluded or parameters are close to normal.
It can only be applied if there is a sufficient amount and quality of retrieved cells.
Fertilisation with ICSI technique
In vitro fertilisation with ICSI technique consists in transferring a sperm cell selected in advance directly to an egg. Intracytoplasmic injection of a sperm cell is recommended most frequently to couples who have troubles conceiving a child due to male infertility, immunology and lack or low fertilisation rate after typical in vitro fertilisation.
It is also recommended to couples diagnosed with male infertility.
Fertilisation with IMSI technique
In vitro fertilisation with IMSI technique consists in selecting a sperm cell with normal morphology and transferring it directly to an egg cell under a microscope magnifying an image over 6,000 times (“regular” microscopes that are typically used to assess morphology and quality of sperm cells magnify image up to 1,200 times).
PICSI® (Physiological Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection - physiological ICSI)
In this technique sperm cells are selected based on morphological criteria as well as positive and specific hyaluronan binding assay.
Normal, motile sperm cells react with hyaluronan through specific receptors located on their heads. If a sperm cell is able to bind with hyaluronan, it suggests that it has undergone the entire spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis correctly and that it is biologically mature, functional and will be able to fertilise an egg cell.
hbIMSI – in vitro fertilisation with IMSI technique and two-stage sperm selection
hbIMSI method consists in injecting a sperm cell into an egg; a sperm cell has to successfully pass MSOME and hyaluronan binding assay (HBA). Two-stage selection of sperm cells before IMSI in vitro increases the likelihood of obtaining a promising and normally developing embryo.