What's in a Name? The Surprisingly Complicated World of IVF Pipettes


If you work in an IVF laboratory, you already know that precision is everything. You also know that the terminology used to describe laboratory instruments is not always the precision instrument it should be.

Stripping Pipette and Denuding Pipette — Meet Your Identical Twin Before an oocyte can undergo ICSI, it needs to be freed from the cloud of cumulus cells surrounding it. This pipette is called a stripping pipette in some labs, a denuding pipette in others. The terms are interchangeable. The instrument is identical.

Three Biopsy Pipettes That Are Definitely Not Identical Polar body biopsy pipette: used to sample the polar body for oocyte genetic assessment. Fine bore, ~20–30 µm. Blastomere biopsy pipette: used on day 3 cleavage-stage embryos for PGT. ~30–40 µm. Trophectoderm biopsy pipette: used on day 5/6 blastocysts, the current gold standard for PGT in the UK. ~25–35 µm.

Specialist Tools Worth Knowing The TESE pipette handles testicular sperm extraction. The zona dissection pipette (or PZD pipette) performs mechanical assisted hatching. The AHA pipette delivers acid for chemical zona dissolution. The piezo-ICSI pipette works with a piezo drive and has a flat tip rather than the conventional bevel.

Cryolab (cryolab.co.uk) stocks the full range of micromanipulation pipettes for IVF. Contact: info@cryolab.co.uk.

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