Physiological intracytoplasmic sperm injection (PICSI) is a technique used to select sperm to use in Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment. It involves placing sperm with hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural compound found in the body.
Men with poorer sperm samples often have a greater degree of immature sperm. Immature sperm can still show normal motility and morphology, however, they may have higher levels of damaged DNA, which, if selected for insemination can result in poor embryo quality and pregnancy loss. PICSI is a method that helps us to select mature sperm for injection.
At Herts & Essex, we include an HBA test in all of our semen assessments. It is this test that will look at the percentage of mature sperm within the sample and therefore whether PICSI may benefit you in your treatment.
Your Clinician will guide you as to whether PICSI may be appropriate for you. There are no additional risks in using sperm selected by this method.
