Laser Microtomography for IVF Oocyte of Human

For in vitro fertilization technology, the quality of oocytes has a direct impact on the egg fertilization and developmental competence of early embryo. The morphological criteria are used for the estimation of oocyte quality before its fertilization in vitro. To date, only one method is known to determine the maturity of oocyte. This is the routine observation with a light microscope. The aim of this article was to adapt the noninvasive quantitative laser scanning microtomography (QLSM) for the investigation of morphological features of a human oocyte in vitro. This approach was used to accumulate the Z-stack gallery of optical sections of IVF oocyte. The layer-by-layer acquisition allows the fine cytoplasmic structure imaging. Applying the QLSM Z-stack of optical sections, the cellular volume was calculated with quantitative 3D reconstruction of a human oocyte. The volume value and intracellular structure were used as novel criteria to assess the oocyte state after the stress evoked by cryopreservation procedure.