In vitro fertilisation or IVF process involves removal of egg(s) from women’s ovary and fertilizing it with a sperm in a laboratory environment.
An egg may be fertilized by IVF in one of the two ways – traditional or ICSI.
- Traditional IVF process – In traditional In Vitro Fertilization, more than 50000 swimming sperm are placed along with the egg in a laboratory dish. Fertilization occurs when one of the sperm enters into the cytoplasm of the egg.
- Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) – ICSI is a technique where a single sperm is assisted to penetrate or actually injected into the egg. In the ICSI process, a tiny needle, called a micropipette, is used to inject a single sperm into the centre of the egg under a microscope. ICSI is generally used in case of low sperm count or motility in male or if the egg covering is too hard to penetrate.
This tricky procedure however, requires the ICSI machine. So, what constitutes an ICSI machine?
Components of an ICSI machine
ICSI machine has two main components, one is an inverted microscope and the other is a micromanipulator.
Inverted Microscope
The microscope provides the required magnification along with three-dimensional depth during manipulation. An inverted microscope system is used in ICSI instead of normal microscope. Inverted microscopes are used in micromanipulation applications where space above the specimen is required for manipulator mechanisms and the micro tools they hold. It helps improve the quality and precision of ICSI, which requires both speed and precision.
The microscope enables clear visualization of the spindle in a metaphase II oocyte. Observing the spindle is important so as to improve ICSI precision. This is done by confirming the oocyte’s phase of maturation and the position of the pipette injection to avoid damage to the spindle. A motorized unit helps a faster ICSI procedure, minimising stress on the oocyte. Differential interference contrast observation units in the inverted microscope enables the use of intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection (IMSI) to confirm the shape, size, and number of vacuoles in the head of the sperm.
Micromanipulators
Micromanipulators are used to hold the Microinjection Pipettes in position, the Injection pipettes for sperm and holding pipettes for the oocytes, and perform the procedure. They could be manual, hydraulic, or electronic with different degrees of controls. The micromanipulator system could be oil based or air based or combined. Narishige micromanipulator is a combined system and very versatile while Eppendorf system is fully motorized having three pre-programmed settings for easy operation.
Other important IVF equipment
Success of IVF treatment depends a lot on the quality of environment in the lab and equipment used for IVF treatments. Embryology Lab has to be an extremely sterile environment for high success rates. Hence these labs use a lot of Air-purification equipment, air-curtains, laminar airflow, positive air pressure unit etc.
For e.g. Laminar airflow – creates appropriate sterile environment, high-end microscopes of different types are essential for various purposes.– e.g. Upright microscopes are used for semen analysis and sperm preparation, stereo zoom microscopes are used for first sorting, inverted microscopes are used to assess morphology, ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) system and IMSI require high resolution and high contrast microscopy. Centrifuges are required for semen recovery. Sperm counting chamber is a device for accurate count of sperm. It also helps in evaluation of their motility and morphology from undiluted specimen.
Other important equipment are centrifuge, CO2/ Trigas/ Dry incubators, Oocyte/ Ovum aspiration pumps, Laser Hatching System, cryo cans, embryoscope etc. Cryopreservation equipment is essential for preserving human sperm, eggs and embryos under right conditions in the laboratory. Many other equipment assist in good IVF treatment. Read more on the IVF equipment and their use.
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