What is vaccination treatment? Is in vitro fertilization the same as vaccination treatment?
“The vaccination method is the first step of in vitro fertilization treatments. It is a method preferred by patients because it is easier and less costly than microinjection methods. But it is necessary to determine well whether it is suitable for the couple. Men for whom vaccination treatment is appropriate are those with a lighter sperm count or sperm abnormality. In women, women who do not have any adhesions or fluid accumulation in their tubes, or who do not have conditions such as uterine fibroids or anomalies in the uterine cavity are suitable cases for vaccination.
HOW MANY TIMES CAN THE VACCINATION METHOD BE TRIED?
How long should there be between two attempts? “The vaccination treatment can be tried more than once. However, the age of the woman is important in finding the number sufficient. Because while we increase the number of vaccinations, we may encounter situations such as the aging of the woman and the decrease in the egg reserve. The important thing is that if we cannot achieve pregnancy after a few attempts of vaccination treatment, it is necessary to switch to the micro-injection part of the in vitro fertilization as soon as possible without distracting the patient. The solution to the problem will be to develop embryos by micro-injection and to perform embryo transfer.
HOW IS VACCINATION DONE?
How to get sperm from a man for vaccination and how to choose sperm that can serve for reproduction? “In the vaccination process, the ovulation of the woman is definitely followed. First of all, the development of the egg is initiated with egg-improving drugs. The maturation time of the egg is adjusted by giving a cracking needle to follow and mature this developing egg. Simultaneously, his sperm is taken from his partner by ejaculation. The insemination into the uterus is carried out with the help of a catheter, by using the methods of preparing the sperm with the most regular shape and motility to coincide with the period when the full egg will hatch. The first plan of the embryologist and doctor in vaccination is to catch the best developing egg and meet it with the best developing sperm. But this process takes place in the womb of the expectant mother. In fact, naturally developed eggs are the best developed eggs. These are eggs that develop with less drugs, sometimes even drug-free cycles. We try to choose the best sperm with the methods we prepare in the laboratory environment. Therefore, a high number of sperm concentrations are tried to be combined and achieved by timing the woman's most developed egg.
SPERM SELECTION METHODS
''In cases with good sperm count, swim up methods are applied under laboratory conditions. These methods are based on the principle that sperms with good motility and morphological structure rise to the top level on a liquid layer. We can also collect those who can access these channels and use them in transactions. The main basis of all these processes is to imitate the environment in which the sperm passing through the fertility channels of the woman can increase their mobility and other fertilization ability. The process is actually imitating a sperm reaching an egg in order to have a baby in normal ways. It is to provide these environments in laboratory conditions and to select and use the best sperm from among them.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE OF VACCINATION FROM IVF?
How is vaccination different from IVF? “In vaccination, fertilization occurs when the egg that has cracked from the woman's tubes spontaneously meets the sperm in the catheter that we leave with insemination methods. Fertilization takes place in the uterus or in the tubes. Embryo development takes place in the mother's uterus in the same way and implantation takes place. Here, the only situation we organize from the outside is to schedule and meet with each other. But there are definitely bigger problems in the micro-injection method. This means that we need to be more helpful with the problems. The sperm count may be very low and we can obtain sperm from the testis. There may even be patients from whom we can obtain sperm with menstruation. The egg then develops outside, in a petri dish under laboratory conditions, and under appropriate culture conditions. The sperm we obtain by surgical or other methods also fertilizes the egg under laboratory conditions and ensures the development of the embryo. Fertilization and pregnancy are initiated by transferring the developing embryo to the mother's womb 3 days sometimes 5 days later. Vaccination is one of the assisted reproductive techniques, but the method that is most used today and with which we achieve high success rates is in vitro fertilization, that is, the micro-injection method.
DEVELOPMENTS IN EMBRYOLOGY What kind of innovations has the developing technology brought to embryology?
We can now follow the embryos with time lapse (full-time imaging system) cameras. Every 20 minutes, we can take a photo during embryo development and watch this photo in the form of a video in a 5-day course. For example, when choosing the best 8 or the best 10 embryos among the developing embryos of the patient who has 1-2 embryos, we can increase the chances of pregnancy by choosing the embryoscope. This is a serious technology, but today, artificial intelligence is the most talked about. Newly developing software and newly developing science technology enable us to form our embryo selection criteria with artificial intelligence techniques. It even helps us to follow our laboratory conditions 24 hours a day and bring these conditions to the standards we want.
EGG, SPERM AND EMBRYO FREEZING . Could you give information about egg, sperm and embryo freezing processes?
''The most common embryo freezing process is done. Our embryo freezing rates have increased dramatically. We now know that we can achieve very healthy and very high pregnancies with frozen embryos. Situations in the pharmaceutical industry and today's conditions are increasingly encouraging us to freeze and thaw embryos and then transfer them to the mother's womb. Because sometimes the patient can develop too many eggs. We can transfer and freeze the remaining embryos to use for the second or third child. Sometimes, we can perform embryo transfer after the patient who has problems in the uterus or in the tubes first overcomes the problems with surgical methods and ensures intrauterine compatibility. Sperm freezing is already the first of the freezing techniques in IVF treatments and allows us to obtain sperm with high viability rates. The need for egg freezing method has increased gradually due to reasons such as the aging of our diseases and the fact that women play a greater role in working life. In addition, the way for patients of childbearing age who are undergoing cancer treatment to have children after their treatment is provided, is to freeze their eggs.”
WHICH CANCERS AFFECT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH? . Which cancers are most affected by reproductive health?
“Cancer is a factor that affects reproductive health in itself. We still haven't figured out that cancer patients' egg reserve is lower and more affected. But today, hematological cancers are the most common in the world. Secondly, ovarian cancers and then breast cancers come. Hematological cancers, ovarian cancers, breast cancers are cancers that women who have not yet had a baby can come across. Therefore, women who are still at the peak of their fertility may have to struggle with it.”
