IMSI

IMSI (Intracytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection)

( Selected Sperm Microinjection with High Microscopic Magnification )

In the microinjection process, which is used extensively in IVF applications, living sperm cells are enlarged 400 times at most. At this magnification, the general morphological features of the sperm (head structure, neck structure and tail structure) can be examined. However, defects in the head structure of the sperm cell and structures that should not be such as vacuoles (liquid-filled vesicles) cannot be examined.

With the method called IMSI, the sperm can be magnified up to 400 times instead of 8000 times by means of large magnification lenses and special optical systems, and the defective structures in the sperm head can be distinguished. In this way, the selection of normal or near-normal sperm is ensured.

Vacuoles in the nucleus, which contains the genetic material in the sperm head, have given clues that there may be damage to the DNA structure, in intensive studies since 2005. Damages in the sperm DNA structure can cause problems such as fertilization failure, embryo development arrest, poor or slow embryo development, and thus adversely affect the chance of pregnancy. Besides, it is very difficult for sperm with high DNA damage to get pregnant naturally, except for in vitro fertilization. In normal pregnancies, sperms with damaged DNA are naturally eliminated. Studies show that pregnancy rates are higher in patients who have undergone IMSI compared to the group that has not been applied, but also reveal that post-pregnancy losses (clinical abortion-miscarriage) are significantly reduced.

In men; It has been observed that conditions such as advanced age, smoking, air pollution, long sexual abstinence, exposure of testicles to an abnormally hot environment increase the damage to sperm DNA. If the sperm DNA damage is less than 8%, the DNA of the eggs can repair the damaged DNA of the sperm and a healthy child can be born.