How do We Take Care of your Eggs and Embryos in the IVF Lab?
Dr Sai, Senior Embryologist, Malpani Infertility Clinic
We pamper your sperms, eggs and embryos in the IVF lab as carefully as you take care of your newborn baby !
In the IVF Lab, we provide everything that’s required to nourish your eggs and embryos.
To keep your eggs and embryos happy, we need to make sure that they are ensconced in culture medium which is kept at the just the right pH and temperature. Just like the porridge in the Goldilocks story, these have to be just right !
In order meticulously control these two critical variables, we need just the right hardware and software – IVF Culture Medium ; and a CO2 Incubator.
Culture Medium :
Culture Medium is like chicken soup for eggs and embryos. It contains all the nutrients which are required for growth of embryos, including cards, proteins and antibiotics.
- The embryos are kept in dishes, which contain culture medium. The culture medium is equilibrated overnight in a CO2 incubator to keep it at the right pH.
- All Culture dishes are labeled with patient’s name.
CO2 Incubator
The CO2 Incubator is the heart of an IVF Lab. This is the place where all embryos live and grow before they go back to their mummy’s uterus.
 
- CO2 Incubator is a precision scientific equipment, which creates and maintains a healthy atmosphere to maintain the right environment for the embryos.
- It automatically maintains an atmosphere of 5% CO2 (to maintain pH) and a temperature of 37 C ( your body temperature). The incubator allows us to mimic the conditions embryos encounter in vivo – in your fallopian tubes and uterus !
- The incubator is connected to a CO2 cylinder, which pumps in CO2 gas.
- The CO2 and temperature are calibrated daily , to ensure the incubator is functioning properly.
How we Process the Sperm :
First of all let us look at your semen sample. A semen sample contains motile sperms, immotile sperms, other cells and lots of debris.
Sperm Preparation:
- A raw semen sample cannot be used for any ART procedure (IVF, ICSI and IUI) . Sperm is processing of semen in the laboratory.
- It aims to remove seminal plasma, dead, damaged and abnormal sperms, immature germ cells, bacteria, other cells such as pus cells and cellular debris.
- Sperm preparation is mandatory
Labelling of Semen sample with Patient’s Name :
- When you are asked to collect semen for an IVF procedure, one of the nurses will ask you to write your full name on a piece of paper, to avoid any spelling mistakes and the same name will be written on your semen collection jar. You can verify this. The cap is labeled with your wife’s name.
 
- Once the sample is collected and it arrives in the lab along with your file, the name on the jar is cross checked with one on the file. We check the sample with a microscope and transfer the sample to a sterile centrifuge tube, which is labeled with your name. The cap of the tube is also labeled.
- Your sperms will be processed in this tube and will remain in this tube till we use them for IVF.
How We Take care of your Eeggs and Embryos :
- The culture dishes required for your IVF procedure are prepared in advance and kept in the incubator.
- All the dishes are labeled with your name.
- The shelf of the incubator in which your dishes are kept is also labeled.
All dishes are labeled with the wife’s name
Incubator shelves labeled with wife’s name
- Once your eggs are retrieved by Egg collection, we keep them in a dish which is labeled with your name. The dish is kept in the incubator till we do IVF or ICSI on them.
- To perform ICSI on your dish, we transfer them to another dish called ICSI dish, which is labeled with your name.
- Your husband’s sperms are removed from the tube in which they are kept, and transferred to your ICSI dish.
- Once we finish performing ICSI on all your eggs, we transfer them to your culture dishes and keep them in your shelf of incubator.
- The eggs will fertilise and grow in the incubator.
- The best embryos are then transferred into your uterus.
Confirmation of Name for every Procedure :
For every procedure i.e. egg collection and embryo transfer :
- The nurse and OT staff cross check your file before taking you inside the OT for procedure.
- The nurse informs Dr Anjali and me about your being taken into the OT.
- For embryo transfer, the nurse stands as witness, while I load your embryos into the catheter.
- I confirm your name audibly with Dr Malpani, before handing over the catheter loaded with your embryos to her.
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