Hi
For anyone interested - Itziar (Laboratory Manager) from Hollwood Fertility Centre is happy to speak to you on any laboratory based technique and can advise on the specifics of the PICSI and IMSI techniques as can James Stanger/Jason (Lab) from PIVET.
In short the techniques can assist with sorting and selecting best sperm. The techniques are more expensive than traditional ICSI due to extra training and kits used.
I have been told that PICSI is a sperm collection device. Itzar from Hollywood informed me that with the PICSI Sperm Selection Device collected sperm is placed in a PICSI dish containing samples of hyaluronan hydrogel. Then mature sperm sticks to the hyaluronan where they can be isolated by the embryologist and used for ICSI. The device actually mimics a key step in the natural fertilization process, the binding of mature sperm to the retrieved egg.
IMSI stands for intracytoplasmic-morphologically-selected sperm-injection. Where IMSI differs from ICSI, however, is that during IMSI, the embryologist carrying out the procedure uses an extremely high-powered microscope to select the sperm cells with the best morphological quality to be injected into the eggs.
Overall speak to the laboratory managers from your clinic for the pros/cons of the above technique as they are the experts of ICSI/PICSI/IMSI.
Re: Best rates for older women - any clinic in Perth will see a 39 year old - the clinics do not routinely publicize/update their success rates for the older age group and when they do I think they are difficult to decipher as there are many factors that determines success.
Iolanda