Genetic Testing Using Calcium Ionophore Technology
Calcium Ionophore is a substance used in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to enhance fertility and address infertility issues, thereby increasing the chances of conception for couples facing such difficulties.
Current infertility treatments rely on ART techniques to resolve reproductive challenges. In certain cases—such as severely low sperm count, poor sperm health, severe sperm abnormalities, or when the egg’s outer shell is too thick or rigid, preventing sperm from penetrating naturally and leading to fertilization failure—an advanced technique known as Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is used.
After the sperm is injected into the egg, it must send a signal (known as the sperm factor) to the egg, allowing their nuclei to merge. If the sperm suffers from abnormalities such as morphological defects or weak motility, it may fail to send the correct signal, preventing the egg’s nucleus from forming and aligning its genetic material for fusion with the sperm’s nucleus. Consequently, fertilization does not occur.
To address this issue, Calcium Ionophore technology has been developed.
Studies indicate that the use of Calcium Ionophore in In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) procedures has led to a significant improvement in fertilization rates. According to published research, fertilization rates among individuals who underwent this technique increased from 35% to 57%, pregnancy rates rose from 7.6% to 46.6%, and live birth rates improved from 1.3% to 34.2%.
Who Can Benefit from Calcium Ionophore Technology?
Calcium Ionophore technology is used in the following cases:
- Patients experiencing repeated fertilization failure.
- Cases where very few eggs or sperm are retrieved.
- Patients who have had no fertilization at all after undergoing ICSI.
- Patients whose sperm are entirely classified as globosperm.
