Media Release
News
12 November 2025
A gentler form of insemination technology is providing fresh hope for West Australian women who have struggled to conceive.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection or ICSI is a popular IVF technique used to inject a single sperm directly into an egg before implantation, but for some patients this method of assisted reproduction can fail to result in fertilisation or later embryo development and can even damage fragile eggs.
Monash IVF has become the first WA fertility provider to offer Piezo-ICSI to patients locally via the Therapeutical Goods Administration (TGA) special access scheme. The introduction of the technology to WA follows the completion of three successful clinical trials.
Piezo-ICSI uses a micropipette with a rounded tip and combined with a high-speed vibration motion to gently penetrate an egg rather than the traditional sharp-pointed pipette cutting action of regular ICSI.
Monash IVF WA Medical Director, Dr Tamara Hunter eligible patients could access the technology through the fertility provider’s West Leederville site and affiliate clinic Fertility North in Joondalup.
“Piezo-ICSI provides another option for patients experiencing infertility and has been shown to improve fertilisation rates,” Dr Hunter said.
In one study, Monash IVF found the Japanese-developed Piezo-ICSI gives patients who have previously had limited success with standard ICSI a better chance of becoming parents in the future.
“Standard ICSI is a safe and effective technique for most patients, however Monash IVF research shows that for poor prognosis patients a softer insemination approach works best,” Dr Hunter said.
The Monash IVF Group researchers retrospectively studied a group of patients and found the fertilisation rate jumped 16.6 per cent when the patients switched to using the gentler technology.
They also found Piezo-ICSI resulted in less damage and more embryos being created per cycle, which can then be frozen for future use.
“This technology is particularly beneficial for women aged over 38 years, whose egg quality is usually poorer due to their age, and for women with fragile eggs,” Dr Hunter said.
Monash IVF Group Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Deirdre Zander Fox, who was the senior author on all three Australian research studies conducted on Piezo-ICSI, said hundreds of babies have been born using Piezo-ICSI in other states through Monash IVF.
“A large number of our patients across the country have now used Piezo-ICSI to help them create embryos, and in some cases, have babies for the first time,” Professor Zander-Fox said.
“Five WA patients have already used the technology since we introduced it locally in the past few weeks and we are looking forward to being able to welcome our first Piezo-ICSI baby in the west - hopefully sometime next year.
“While Piezo-ICSI has successfully been used overseas, Monash IVF felt it was important to conduct our own local studies into its effectiveness and investigate how it compares to standard ICSI to allow us to use it in the best possible way to help our patients.
“We have conducted multiple patient trials and the results from each have shown it is a great option for many patients.”
Monash IVF Piezo-ICSI research
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