MACS SPERM
MACS (Magnetic Activated Cell Sorting) is an immunomagnetic technique allowing the selection of those spermatozoa that do not show signs of cell damage or death (called apoptosis), and therefore maintain their entire DNA intact.
Seminal quality is a crucial factor when it comes to achieving a pregnancy, since it affects both fertilization and subsequent embryo quality. There are different factors that affect semen quality and one of them is the presence of apoptotic sperm. These damaged sperm can be removed from the sample using this technique because their membranes contain markers that can be detected, thus obtaining a fraction that is free of them and, therefore, better quality.
This technique can be used with any kind of patient, but is mainly used with:
- Patients going through an artificial insemination treatment.
- Patients who have a high level of DNA fragmentation in their sperm sample.
- Patients who have had repeated miscarriages with an unidentified cause.
- Patients who have had at least one previous treatment cycle or who have poor embryo quality which is not attributable to the eggs.
