What is intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)?

ICSI is a procedure in which sperm are individually injected one by one with a microscopic glass needle into the retrieved eggs. ICSI is reserved for those cycles of
IVF in which there is a risk that normal fertilization may not occur. With normal, or conventional, fertilization the sperm is simply placed over the eggs in the same dish as the eggs and then fertilization is allowed to occur naturally. If there is concern about fertilization failure, such as low number of sperm, poor moving sperm, or poorly shaped sperm, then the sperm can be isolated and injected into eggs to help insure fertilization does occur. If the need for ICSI is a very low sperm count, then typically genetic evaluation of the male providing the sperm should be performed to insure there is not any transmissible genetic condition that could be transmitted to a resulting male embryo after fertilization. Data regarding the use of ICSI for fertilization of eggs has been largely reassuring; however, you should speak with your physician for more detailed discussion regarding this if you have additional concerns.