The
assisted fertilization treatments
in which the process known as
ICSI is used are the same
as those in which plain
in
vitro fertilization is used, except for one thing:
whereas in the latter procedure the sperm are placed in a laboratory
container for them to swim to the oocyte and penetrate it by their
own means,
ICSI consists in injecting a sperm directly
inside each oocyte and leaving them in a laboratory container
for the fertilization to complete its process.
The rest of the stages, from the preparations prior to the fertilization to the embryo implantation, are
the same in
ICSI and in traditional in vitro fertilization and, in both cases, within 24 hours, the
oocytes are examined to see if the first signs of fertilization have appeared: small spheres inside
the oocyte, the male and female pronucleous.
ICSI is a procedure used when there are male deficiencies that result in the production of weak or too
few sperm. In some severe cases, this deficiency is so significant that a single ejaculation is not
enough for collecting the necessary number of sperm and it becomes necessary to collect the sperm
that remains inside the testicles, in the vas deferens or in the epididymis. The sperm is collected
by complementary procedures of puncture and suction.