Sperm Preparation

1. Swimup
2. Percoll

Swimup Separation Procedure

In this procedure, 0.25 ml of semen is layered under 1 ml of an appropriate medium such as BGM-3 and then incubated for 30 to 60 min at 37 - 39°C.  The motile sperm swimup out of the extender (yellow in the image) and into the incubation medium.  The dead or non-motile sperm do not move into the incubation medium.  The top portion of medium above the extender is collected with a pipet and the sperm from this layer used for IVF. Before the sperm is used however it is essential to determine the concentration of sperm so that sufficient sperm are used to fertilize the oocytes. Usually we add sufficient sperm to acheive 1 - 2 million motile sperm/ml in the fertilization drops that contain the matured oocytes.