New technology promises to give infertile couples a higher success rate of conceiving
It has been estimated that approximately 40% of sterility in couples can be attributed to male sub fertility. And while dealing with infertility problems can be devastating there is a ray of hope for couples who have trouble conceiving.
Lilavati Hospital has installed a microscope machine that can choose good sperm over bad ones. Dr. Hrishikesh Pai says, “The machine magnifies the image of the sperm 7,200 times larger thereby helping pick better sperms as against the earlier technique of ICSI that has a magnification capacity of 200 times.”
The technique called Intra-Cytoplasmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection (IMSI) thus ensures a better success rate for IVF than the earlier technique (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). But what’s the difference and can this new technique actually help couples? Dr. Pai says, “IMSI is a modified form of the ICSI technique. However the only difference is that IMSI carefully selects the best quality sperm by magnifying it many times more than the conventional ICSI method. Patients with severe low sperm count or abnormal and immobile sperms can largely benefit from IMSI.”
And the higher success rate means that couples can actually save money too. Dr. Pai adds, “Considering the high costs of IVF (`80,000-`1,00,000) couples who want to avoid failure, opt for IMSI which has a much better success rate. IVF consultants are now better equipped to produce better results for their patients.”
Though the machine is introduced for the first time in India, in Lilavati Hospital Mumbai, Dr. Hrishikesh Pai and Dr. Nandita Palshetkar will not charge any extras to the patients.
— Glynda Alves