Testicular Sperm Aspiration
Testicular Sperm Aspiration is performed under local or general anesthesia and there is only brief, minimal discomfort following the procedure. All discomfort should be gone within a few hours. A very fine needle is passed through the skin into the testicles where sperm will be located.
These sperm recovered through TESA can then be used to fertilize an egg with the ICSI procedure.
To achieve ICSI fertilization a single washed sperm is located and its tail is crushed so it will be immobilized and not damage the egg after it is injected. It is then picked up with an injection micropipette, a specially prepared ultra-fine, glass needle. A single mature egg is held in place by a holding micropipette and the egg is rotated so that its polar body is at the 12 o’clock position. This insures that the egg is in the proper position so no damage will occur during the injection process.