The primary objective of this study is to evaluate whether the percentage of good quality embryo formation following Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is improved with the use of ZyMot method of microfluidic sperm separation compared to density gradient.
During an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle, eggs are removed from a woman's ovaries via a minor surgical procedure and are inseminated with sperm in order to create embryos. The insemination process can be via standard IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI.) Standard IVF is the process of placing thousands of sperm in a culture dish with one or more eggs and allowing them to interact on their own. ICSI is the process by which one sperm is directly injected into each egg. Prior to using the sperm for insemination, a semen sample is processed and washed in order to obtain the healthiest sperm. A standard sperm preparation procedure is density gradient, in which the sperm is spun via centrifugation and separated from the seminal fluid. An alternate method is via microfluidics, by which the sperm swim up a microfluidic gradient created by a microporous filter between two chambers of a device. Sperm that are capable of navigating through this filter and reaching the end chamber are presumed to be the healthiest sperm. There is some data revealing that ZyMot microfluidics yields healthier sperm compared to the density gradient technique. The aim of the study is to evaluate whether good quality embryo formation is any different following insemination with sperm separated by microfluidics compared to density gradient. On the day of oocyte retrieval, the sperm sample will be split between the two different processing methods: density gradient and ZyMot microfluidics. In the event that there are 6 or more mature oocytes and ICSI will be used for insemination, half of the oocytes will be inseminated with sperm processed by density gradient and half with sperm processed by ZyMot microfluidics. The percentage of good quality embryo formation will be compared between the two groups.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
108
850 uL of untreated semen will be directly deposited into the inlet port of the ZyMotTM Multi device, followed by placement of 750 uL culture medium in the outlet port and throughout the upper collection chamber. The device will then be incubated in a humidified 37C CO2 incubator for 30 minutes. During incubation, the healthiest and most motile sperm will swim through the microporous filter and into the upper collection chamber, where they will be recovered via the outlet port. 500 uL of the sperm sample will be removed and placed in a separate tube for analysis and insemination.
Density gradient centrifugation will be performed using a one-layer preparation of 90% Isolate in 15 mL conical tubes. Semen will be layered over 1 mL of gradient and then centrifuged for 15 min at 300xg. The supernatant will be removed and discarded. The sperm pellet will be washed by mixing with Multipurpose Handling Medium Complete and centrifuging the sample for 5 min at 400xg. After the wash, the supernatant is removed and discarded and the pellet is re-suspended in culture medium, assessed for sperm parameters, and held at room temperature until insemination.
NYU Langone Reproductive Specialists of NY
New York, New York, United States
Percentage of Good Quality Blastocyst Formation
Good quality embryos will be defined as blastocyst stage embryos on day 5 or 6 of culture with an overall quality grade of good or fair. Embryo morphology assessment includes two parts: an Overall Grade and the Stage. Grading is a subjective assessment of the overall quality of the embryo as good, fair, or poor, and is based on assessment of certain characteristics of the embryo, such as fragmentation, symmetry, inner cell mass (ICM) quality and trophectoderm quality. The percentage will be reported for both arms (ZyMot compared to density gradient).
Time frame: Culture Day 5 or 6
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