Principles of IVF Laboratory Practice
Optimizing Performance and Outcomes

Since the first successful human in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in 1978, IVF has transformed from an experimental procedure to an established standard of care that is practised throughout the world. As the proven methodologies become more established, patients and practitioners expect higher live birth rates and excellent quality controls. This practical book covers every stage in the life of an IVF laboratory, from designing and planning the laboratory to training the embryologists and ongoing management and troubleshooting, providing step-by-step protocols for today's best practice. Complex and specialized procedures are described by experts in the respective fields using a common structure, which allows the reader to translate into standard operating procedures. The editors bring together a portfolio of techniques that will work in almost every laboratory, providing a foundation of good working practice for both new and experienced embryologists.

Part I. Starting a New Laboratory and Training Protocols: 1. Establishing and equipping a new IVF laboratory Alex Lagunov, Michael Crowe and Jason E. Swain; 2. Basic embryology skills in the IVF laboratory Stephen Troup and Karen Schnauffer; 3. Sperm preparation for IVF: training protocol Kara A. Ehlers and Greg L. Christensen; 4. Oocyte pick-up for IVF: training protocol Alison Campbell, Caroline Drew and Kathryn Berrisfor; 5. Embryo transfer for IVF: training protocol María José de los Santos and Nicolás Prados; 6. ICSI for IVF: training protocol Cristina Hickman; 7. Embryo assisted hatching for IVF: training protocol and method Mina Alikani; 8. Embryo biopsy for IVF: training protocol Oriol Oliana, Cristina F. L. Hickman, Jonathan Lo and Dawn A. Kelk; 9. Vitrification for IVF: training protocol Andrew Dorfmann; 10. Mouse embryo assay for quality control in the IVF laboratory Dean E. Morbeck; 11. Sperm survival assay for quality control in the IVF laboratory Marius Meintjes; Part II. Pre-Procedure Protocols: 12. Quality control in the IVF laboratory: continuous improvement Georgios Liperis and Cecelia Sjöblom; 13. Set-up procedures for optimizing performance in the IVF laboratory Klaus E. Wiemer; Part III. Gametes: 14. Sperm preparation for therapeutic in-vitro fertilization Verena Nordhoff and Sabine Kliesch; 15. Processing surgically retrieved sperm in the IVF laboratory Amy E. T. Sparks; 16. Cryopreservation of sperm for IVF: semen samples and individual sperm Nina Desai and Pooja Rambhia; 17. Oocyte collection for IVF Marcela Calonge; 18. In-vitro maturation of oocytes for IVF Satoshi Mizuno and Aisaku Fukuda; 19. Oocyte grading for IVF Basak Balaban; 20. Vitrification of oocytes for IVF Laura Rienzi, B. Iussig and F. M. Ubaldi; Part IV. Insemination/ICSI: 21. Conventional IVF with overnight co-incubation Caroline McCaffrey, Melicia Clarke-Williams and David H. McCulloh; 22. Conventional IVF with short co-incubation Dean E. Morbeck; 23. Technical aspects of ICSI for ejaculated spermatozoa Gianpiero D. Palermo, Tyler Cozzubbo and Queenie V. Neri; 24. Sperm selection for ICSI by morphology Sabine Vanderzwalmen, David Jareno, Pierre Vanderzwalmen, Romain Imber, Maximilian Murtinger and Barbara Wirleitner; 25. Sperm selection for ICSI by viability Markus H. M. Montag; 26. Oocyte activation for IVF Thomas Ebner; Part V. Fertilization Assessment: 27. Fertilization assessment in IVF and ICSI Dara Berger and Heather S. Hoff; 28. Polar body biopsy for IVF Markus H. M. Montag; 29. Zygote cryopreservation for IVF Dean E. Morbeck; Part VI. Embryo Assessment: 30. Embryo assessment at the precompaction stage in the IVF laboratory Shunping Wang and Tien-cheng Arthur Chang; 31. Embryo assessment at the postcompaction stage in the IVF laboratory Michael Reed and Jun Tao; 32. Embryo assessment at the blastocyst stage in the IVF laboratory Tien-cheng Arthur Chang, Shunping Wang and Courtney Failor; 33. Embryo culture and assessment via time-lapse microscopy in the IVF laboratory Markus H. M. Montag; Part VII. Embryo Cryopreservation: 34. Cryopreservation of precompaction embryos for IVF Cecelia Sjöblom; 35. Cryopreservation of postcompaction embryos for IVF Mitchel C. Schiewe; Part VIII. Embryo Biopsy: 36. Embryo biopsy by laser on day 5 in the IVF laboratory Anick De Vos; Part IX. Embryo Transfer: 37. Routine embryo transfer in the IVF laboratory Sangita Jindal; Part X. Quality Management: 38. Quality management in the IVF laboratory: witnessing David H. McCulloh, Patty Ann Labella and Caroline McCaffrey; 39. Quality management in the IVF laboratory: quality improvement, document and process control, and adverse events Rebecca Holmes and C. Brent Barrett; 40. Troubleshooting in the IVF laboratory Kathryn J. Go and Thomas B. Pool.

Markus H. M. Montag is the CEO and founder of ilabcomm GmbH, a consulting company in the field of assisted reproduction. He was previously laboratory director in a private IVF unit and was at the Universities of Bonn and Heidelberg for twenty years.
Dean E. Morbeck is the Scientific Director for Fertility Associates, based in Auckland, New Zealand, where he oversees the embryology for six IVF clinics.