Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection - Jaspinder Padda

                              Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection


My topic is about Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection which is a modern reproductive technology. Intracytoplasmic Sperm  Injection (ICSI) is an invitro fertilization procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.

The ICSI was invented to overcome male infertility problems or where the egg cannot be easily penetrated by the sperm and it is mostly used for these problems now a days. During ICSI the sperm doesn't need to travel to the egg or penetrate the outer layers of the egg. This means it can help couples where-
1. The mans sperm can't get to the egg at all.
2.can get to the egg but for some reason can't fertilize it.
3.the man has a very low or zero sperm count
4.A high percentage of abmormally shaped sperm. This can result in poor motility, which means the sperm can't swim well.

As with normal IVF (invitro fertilization) the woman is given fertility drugs to stimulate her ovaries to develop several mature eggs for fertilization.When the womans eggs are ready for collection the man and woman will undergo different procedures.
The man may produce a sperm sample himself by ejaculating into a cup on the same day the womans eggs are collected.If there is no sperm in his semen, doctors can extract sperm from him under local anaesthetic. The doctor will use a fine needle to take the sperm from the man-
- epididymis, in a procedure known as percutaneous epididymal  sperm aspiraction (PESA)
or
-testicle, in a procedure known as testicular sperm aspiraction (TESA)

If these techniques don't remove enough sperm the doctor will use another method by taking a biopsy of testicular tissue, which sometimes has sperm attached. This is called testicular sperm extraction(TESE) or micro-TESE if the surgery is carried out with a micro-scope.The retrieved sperm is frozen. There can be some discomfort but it can be treated with pain killers.

After giving the woman a local anaesthetic the doctor will remove the womans eggs using a fine hollow needle.An ultrasound helps the doctor locate the eggs. Then the embryologist  isolates individual sperm in the lab and injects them into individual eggs.Two days later the fertilized eggs become balls of cells called embryos.
The procedure then follows the same steps as IVF. The doctor transplants one or two embryos into the womans uterus through the cervix using a thin catheter.
Embryos may be transferred two to three days after the fertilisation or maybe five. Five days after fertilisation the embryo will be at the blastocyst stage. If all goes well , an embryo will attach to the womans uterus wall and continue to grow to become a baby.After about two weeks the mother can take a pregnancy test.
The success rate  of ICSI is higher than conventional IVF methods.It  highly depends upon the parents  fertilitiy problems and age. The younger the parents are especially the mother  the more chance of  healthy eggs and  higher the chance of success.If the mother is under 35 there is a 35 percent chance of success but lowers if the parents are older.
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 This is a video of ICSI-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQujLI-ArMY
                                                     
The disadvantages and problems-

• ICSI is a more expensive procedure than IVF.
• It has been in use only for a short time so experts are still learning its effects.
• There can be multiple births and ectopic pregnancy.
• There can be a risk of congenital abnormalities especially in male offspring.
• There is some concern that ICSI may increase the rate of birth defects than in a natural conceived baby.

The religious and feminist objections to intacytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are not really convincing but couples should be aware that ICSI may fail and be encouraged to discuss alternative options (e.g- use of donor sperm or adoption ).
 In my opinion, scientists should develop some sort of technology which tells which sperm is strong so that ,that sperm can be used for the procedure which may result in less abnormalities and defects in the offspring because during natural conception only the strongest sperm is able to make it to the egg and fertilise it, weaker sperm don't make it.But because ICSI bypasses this natural process there can be an increased risk of rare genetic problems being carried by the sperm and being passes onto the child.So if a healthy and strong sperm is chosen then these rare genetic problems may be less and that may result in a healthy baby.


References-

• www.babycentre.co.uk
• www.myvmc.com
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/intracytoplasmic sperm injection