Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection (LAISS)

In vitro Fertilization (IVF) in infertility treatment has been successfully applied in numerous countries for more than 40 years. Thanks to the development of science and technology, an array of techniques have been also put into use to improve the performance of IVF cycles.

Understanding the situation, under the guidance of Hong Ngoc General Hospital’s Director Board, Hong Ngoc IVF Center has continuously updated and applied advanced techniques to increase the efficiency of infertility treatment. And Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection is one of these techniques that which have been used in numerous countries in the world.

Why should we select sperm by laser?

Male infertility has become more and more common. The causes include many factors such as environment, overconsumption of alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes … which reduce sperm quality and motility as well as sperm’s vitality. For patients with completely immotile spermatozoa, it was difficult to create embryos by Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) as it was impossible to define viable sperm.

The introduction of Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection is a breakthrough in assisted reproductive treatment of male infertility. Laser can help discriminate viable sperm and dead sperm in cases of completely immotile spermatozoa. Thus, ICSI would be performed more easily and achieve higher fertilization rate.

Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection indicated for:

– Sperm aspirated by surgical techniques MESA, TESA

– Astheno spermia, Necrospermia: cases of immotile or dead spermatozoa

Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection (LAISS) Procedure

A single laser shot is applied close to the tip of the sperm tail using a non-contact 1.48 µm diode laser system. In some few seconds, the embryologist could observe two possible reactions, including:

1. The tail of the spermatozoa starts curling after being affected by the laser shot.

2. The spermatozoa show no reaction

Spermatozoa that show a curling reaction are considered to be viable and can be used for ICSI treatment.

Advantages of Laser-Assisted Immotile Sperm Selection (LAISS)

Unlike other methods, LAISS can be performed directly in IVF media with no additional micromanipulation or chemicals. LAISS is considered a safe procedure since a shot applied to the far end of the flagellum does not affect the sperm head which contains the genetic material.

Indeed, sperm selection by laser helps increase the fertilization rate for cases in which sperm are retrieved by surgical sperm aspiration methods (MESA, PESA) and cases of completely immotile spermatozoa.