IMSI treatment in Bangalore

What is IMSI?

Intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection is otherwise known as IMSI. This is also another technique that gets performed at the time of IVF. Here the embryologist will be able to distinguish the structure of the sperm from others and exclude the supposed variations. This procedure is performed through high magnification digital imaging at the time of injecting into the egg.

Why IMSI?

ICSI is performed in cases with severe male infertility. It is performed in conjunction with IVF to deliver better results. Sometimes the process does not work. For an enhanced positive outcome, use of digital high magnification sperm to enhance the fertilization and development of the embryo. In such cases, the procedure is used for couples who have yielded poor results in IVF along with ICSI.

The technician can easily be able to differentiate between the normal and abnormal sperms by making the high magnification digital. IMSI allows 6000 times magnification of sperms that aid better identification and exclusion at the time of fertilizing the egg. This further uses the structurally normal sperm in the fertilization process using the ICSI method. This technique helps micro-inject most normal-looking sperms.

This is a helpful technique, and the outcome is better than in the traditional method of the selection of sperms for the fertilization process. Traditional method analysis of abnormalities happens at a magnification of about 400 times.

Whom is IMSI suitable for?

This is especially for the ones who have failed repeatedly in their IVF cycles. Though a couple may have failed earlier in the previous ICSI-IVF cycle, they may still look forward to this advanced technique. This advanced technique, IMSI, can be very helpful in case of severe male infertility. Through this, the doctors can distinguish normal sperms from abnormal sperms.

IMSI works as follows

IMSI works most uniquely. The embryologists will select the sperm which is more normally shaped by the microscope. These microscopes will be used to magnify the sperm up to 400 times. In this case, with IMSI, the microscope is one which magnifies the sperm up to 6000 times that makes it possible for embryologists to detect minor alterations in the structure of sperm enhancing the fertilization of the egg.

Steps in IMSI procedure

• Initial selection of the sperms from the freshly collected sample.
• This selection takes place in a microscope that is 15 times stronger than an ordinary one.
• Examination of the internal morphology of the sperms with the help of a microscope. They count out abnormal sperms in this stage immediately after the examination.
• Usually, after extracting the abnormal sperms, doctors transfer the remaining normal sperms into a catheter.
• Later these sperms are kept at the center of the egg.

How is IMSI treatment carried out?

It is performed to remove the normal sperms from abnormal sperms before undergoing microinjecting. This process is done with a high-powered microscope and 600 times digital imaging. The Ultrasound of the sperm is studied through this process. The dermatologist goes through the nucleus distortion. More than 1000 morphological characters are studied by this process. Once the sperm is selected for microinjection the process would be quite like that of the ICSI cycle.

Who is IMSI-IVF recommended for?

• The high percentage of abnormally shaped sperm.
• History of poor results in earlier cycles conducted by ICSI-IVF
• Even in the normal semen sample, with low count of sperms
• Surgically recovered sperm.

IMSI Treatment is suggested for women with

• Failed IVF cycle.
• History of miscarriage and repeated abortions.
• No implantation occurs in the normal quality of egg
• The Blastocyst stage consists of a few embryos.

Risks associated with IMSI-IVF

• Doctors refer to IMSI when the quality of sperms is very poor. It is also referred to when there are 2 failed ICSI and 3 failed IVF cycles.
• IMSI is still in its initial stages. It is a time-consuming process. It takes 1.5 to 5 hours excluding the IVF process. This is an extremely expensive process, and there are only a few IVF laboratories where this can be obtained. It will cause multiple pregnancies compared to ICSI.

Pros and Cons of IMSI

As per reports, IMSI has a success rate of 66% while that of normal sperm injection is 33%. There are some advantages of IMSI:

• This technique has doubled the pregnancy rate and brought down the abortion rate by 60%.
• In this case, normal sperm is selected, and hence the chance of miscarriage is minimized.
• It helps determine fertility hence improving fertility and pregnancy rates.

In conclusion, reports showed that in IMSI, there is a 66% success rate and normal sperm injection at 33%. There are some advantages of IMSI:

This method has increased the pregnancy rate by 60% and, therefore, reduced abortion by that percentage. In this method, normal sperm is selected that reduce the chances of miscarriage

It tries to determine fertility that increases fertility and pregnancy rates.

IMSI also has various disadvantages, including:

• This is a time-consuming procedure and costly too.
• IMS results in multiple pregnancies when compared to ICSI.

IMS is still in its preliminary stages and shall prove much more beneficial to couples with much more serious issues of infertility in the days to come.