IMSI (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Injection)

IMSI (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection), which is one of the developments in the field of assisted reproduction techniques, is the method of using sperm in microinjection which is found to have normal structure with high microscopic magnification. In classical laboratory applications, sperm can be examined morphologically by magnifying 200-400 times in microinjection process. This level of amplification allows a very limited examination of the morphological defects in sperm. Although sperm cells can be examined by staining with special dyes in spermiogram tests, sperm with normal morphology cannot be used during fertilization as they lose their viability during the staining process.

However, in IMSI method, sperm can be enlarged up to 8000 times using high magnification lenses and those with normal morphology can easily be selected. Numerous publications have shown that defects in sperm, particularly the head region, may be associated with defects in DNA structure. Damages in DNA are known to cause low fertilization rate, slow and/or poor embryo development. It is preferable to detect many structural problems carried by sperm by IMSI method, for better quality embryo development and pregnancy rate increase compared to conventional ICSI.

For which patients is the IMSI  application suitable?

• In patients with severely impaired sperm count and quality

• In patients with recurrent failed IVF trials

• In patients with recurrent miscarriage

• In patients fail in pregnancy despite adequate quality and number of eggs

• In inffertility cases of unknown cause

• In patients with low fertilization, slow and/or poor embryo development

In addition, it can be used in these patients to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the effect of sperm on the embryo and to obtain more embryos with good quality blastocysts.