assisted reproductive technique

1. By,
PRITHISH CH. NATH
MSc 3rd SEMESTER
ROLL NO. :- 26
DEPT. OF LIFE SCIENCE & BIOINFORMATICS
ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR.
ART IN INDIAN PROSPECT

2. INTRODUCTION
Assisted Reproductive Techniques(ARTs) are the
techniques which assist the infertile couples to
conceive babies by various medical means which
otherwise are incapable of having it naturally. The
individual or couple is considered to infertile if they
are unable to conceive baby even after 12 months of
regular contraceptive-free intercourse.
ARTs are mainly of the following types
 Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection(ICSI)
 Gamete Intra-fallopian Transfer(GIFT)
 Zygote Intra-fallopian Transfer(ZIFT)
 In Vitro Fertilization(IVF)
 Intrauterine Insemination(IUI).

3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
 The history of ART dates back as early as the 1890’s when
Walter Heape, a professor at the university of Cambridge, UK,
reported the first known case of embryo transplantation in
Rabbits.
 The most remarkable achievement in the field of ART was made
in the 25th of July, 1978 by Dr Robert Geoffrey Edwards with the
birth of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby. He got Nobel Prize in
2010 for his remarkable achievement.
 Subhash Mukhopadhyay, a physician from Kolkata,India created
the world’s second and India’s first child using IVF technology.
Durga was the name of the child developed by him.

5. Recent developments of ART in
India
 Assisted Reproductive Techniques(ARTs) has grown by
leaps and bounds in India. With the rise in economy, many
infertile couples can now afford the sophisticated ART
techniques.
 A new test has emerged which can detect if the new eggs
produced by a women are defective, which may prove to
be boon for women who opt for IVF. As of now, women
routinely subject themselves to a series of IVF fail attempts
without realizing that they carried the defective eggs which
would produce defective children.
 A healthy egg contains a spindle which holds the complete
genetic package. If there is no spindle, either the woman
has a miscarriage or the baby is abnormal with Down’s
syndrome or cerebral palsy.

6. VITRIFICATION
 Vitrification is a preservation process which by the aid of
conc. Vitrification solution and by rapid cooling prevents
the formation of ice crystals, which are known to damage
cells.
 Vitrification was first successfully conducted in humans in
Japan. In this procedure, the embryos are mixed with a
freezing media and then plunged into liquid Nitrogen(-196*
C).
 The high conc. of anti freeze and rapid drop in temperature
prevents the water in the cells from converting into ice.
The entire embryo goes into glassy state avoiding the
crystals, which are known to damage the embryo.
 Because of vitrification process, the eggs can be preserved
indefinitely if -196*C temperature is maintained.

8. Intacytoplsmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection(IMSI)
 IMSI is a modified form of ICSI. The only difference is that
IMSI selects the best quality sperm by magnifying it by
72,000 times as compared to 200 times in ICSI method.
 By IMSI, the spermatozoon can be evaluated for the fine
integrity of its nucleus and the injection of normal
spermatozoon with vacuole free head can be assured.
 Normal shaped sperm cells without vacuoles or with large
vacuoles were very rare both in patients and the fertile
donor samples.
 However, the prevalence of small vacuoles in the normal
sperm cells was extensively high both in patients and the
donor samples.
 An oocyte study showed a lower fertilization rate with
grade II spermatozoa(normal shaped, containing no more
than 2 vacuoles) than with grade I spermatozoa(normal
shaped, without vacuoles).

10. INTRAVIGINAL CULTURE (IVC)
 Normally eggs and embryos are incubated InVitro in
expensive CO2 incubators.
 IVC enables one to provide IVF services without using
CO2 incubators.
 In IVC, the eggs & sperms are kept in a culture media in a
sterile vial which is hermatically sealed and then introduced
in woman’s vagina, where it is held in place by vaginal
diaphragm.
 Here the woman herself acts as her own IVF incubator
keeping her embryo at right temperature of 37*C.
 IVC requires less handling of sperms and embryos & the
fertilization rate is comparable with conventional IVF at
VAGINAL
INCUBATION

11. FIG. :- VIAL WITH VAGINAL DIAPHRAGM ATTACHED
WITH IT

12. ENCAPSULATED GAMETES
 In this technique, the eggs & sperms are introduced into
the uterine cavity after placing hem in a biodegradable
semi-permeable matrix.
 The capsule acts functionally like a temporary incubation
chamber which prevents the eggs from being damaged as
a result of direct contact with the endometrium.
 After the completion of fertilization in the uterine cavity, the
capsule dissolves and releases he embryo for implantation.

13. CONCLUSION
ART has proved to be boon for the infertile
couples in India and as well as couples around
the world. It allows the infertile couples to
overcome their infertility problems and thus helps
them in conceiving babies.