Sperm selection for assisted conception

The development of safe, effective, efficient methods for the isolation of human spermatozoa is a major feature of current research into the optimization of assisted conception therapy. The objective of such research is to deliver methods that will efficiently generate populations of motile, functional spermatozoa that are competent to fertilize the oocyte in vitro and initiate normal embryo development. If sperm quality is so seriously impaired that conventional fertilization is impossible, then the sperm isolation procedure should be competent to recover spermatozoa that are, at least, capable of supporting normal embryonic development following intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI).