A new birth

a bangalore hospital has mastered the art of injecting a sperm into an egg cell outside the woman's body. This method is an advancement over the in vitro fertilisation of the test-tube method. Called Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection ( icsi ), this procedure is useful for couples who have not found success with the test-tube method. Kamini A Rao, a doctor at the Bangalore Assisted Conception Centre, says that in cases of male infertility where the sperm count is negligible, the test-tube method has not worked for the number of sperms are few and even those present may not have the energy to pierce the female egg cell. In such cases, the icsi method will help as the sperm is injected into the female egg using a specially made pipette. The egg cell is 'cleaned' of other cells around it. The pipette sucks in the head of the sperm after cutting off its tail. The pipette is then pierced into the egg and sperm is released gently. Once this is done, within 18 hours the fertilised egg cell start multiplying and it is inserted into the uterus of the woman. After which a normal pregnancy ensures.