Fertility treatments like IVF and IUI require the involvement of several specialists who can correctly diagnose the reasons for infertility besides ensuring that the correct treatment is chosen and implemented. One such specialist is an embryologist who studies eggs, sperm and the embryos created by their combination. He plays a significant role in analyzing the eggs and sperms and identifying the defects that are preventing fertilization besides ensuring that the eggs and sperm used in the IVF treatment are of the desired quality. The role of an embryologist is as important as a fertility specialist, mention experts at the best fertility center in Hyderabad.
Functions Performed by an Embryologist
Successful IVF Treatments can be completed with the expert advice, guidance and monitoring of an embryologist. Here are some important functions performed by an embryologist:
- An embryologist ensures that the lab conditions are conducive for an embryo to grow properly. This includes ensuring the right temperature, checking the PH of the media used to grow the embryo, air quality, humidity levels and other factors essential for maintaining a good IVF laboratory.
- Egg retrieval is an important step in the IVF process and the embryologist carefully examines the fluid removed from the ovaries during the process to identify and collect the eggs.
- Careful examination of the eggs for ranking the collected eggs on the basis of their quality and maturity is done by an embryologist. The best ones are then selected for the process of fertilization.
- Another important function performed by an embryologist is the preimplantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. This is done to check for the presence of any kind of chromosomal diseases and is carried out by removing a single cell from the embryo. The analysis is done in the case of patients who are above 35 years or the ones with a history of genetic disease or the ones who have had multiple miscarriages or whose previous IVF attempts have failed. This step is crucial for reducing the chances of an IVF treatment ending in a miscarriage.
- An embryologist is responsible for placing the fertilized eggs inside an incubator which is regulated to control temperature and other conditions that match the uterus. The creation of optimal conditions ensures the fertilization and the formation of an embryo.
- Constant monitoring of the embryo is carried out followed by its genetic testing. An embryologist also performs embryo biopsy to check for any kind of chromosomal abnormalities. This is important because embryos with an abnormal number of chromosomes may not yield positive results.
- Embryologists are the ones who select the best quality embryos and then shift them into the transfer mode for deposition into the uterus by the fertility specialist.
- Embryologists play an important role in cryopreservation of extra embryos. They evaluate the qualities of the embryos with the good quality ones that are not transferred, sent for freezing for use at a later stage.
Embryologists and ICSI treatments
The ICSI or the Intracytoplasmic sperm injection is a specialized IVF technique used for treating severe cases of male factor infertility. The process involves the injection of a single sperm directly into a mature egg using a micromanipulator machine. Requiring a lot of attention and concentration from experts or embryologists, the process involves identification of the eggs and sperm, their placement on a culture plate followed by the injection of the sperm into the egg. This procedure leads to the formation of the embryos which are cultured in a laboratory closely monitored by the embryologist for two to five days. And the last step is their transfer into the uterus.
An embryologist plays an important role in ensuring that the IVF treatment results in successful pregnancy and healthy babies. To know more about the cause of your infertility or the IVF treatment cost, get in touch with the best IVF center in Hyderabad.
