Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a fertilization procedure in which a sperm is injected directly into an egg to achieve fertilization. ICSI is done for male infertility.
This procedure is selected if the sperm are felt to be too weak to penetrate the egg themselves or if the number of sperm are too low. Using highly specialized equipment, the embryologist deposits a single spermatozoon inside the egg to induce activation and fertilization of the egg. Only one motile spermatozoon is required for each egg. This method has been successfully used since 1992 and overcomes almost all of the barriers that cause male infertility. Until today, thousands of babies have been born from ICSI, with no indication that the method presents a danger for embryo quality and child health (according to a large scale epidemiological study from Belgium).
