10% PVP IN FERTICULT™ FLUSHING MEDIUM

HEPES stabilizes the pH under air (Clark and Swain 2014), therefore CO₂ incubation is not required.

10% PVP in FertiCult Flushing medium contains 4 g/Liter Human Serum Albumin (HSA) to optimize medium performances. HSA is universally added to most ART media because it is widely considered to be of benefit.

The role of albumin in ART media is extensive, including:
- Stabilization of the cell membrane of the embryo in the medium (Malda, et al. 2008).
- Inhibition of lipid peroxidation that can be damaging to sperm (Alvarez and Storey 1995).
- Carrier and source of essential molecules needed by the embryo (Malda, et al. 2008).
- Detoxification by binding waste products from cell metabolism (Blake, et al. 2004).
- Facilitating gamete/embryo manipulation by preventing adsorption to the surface through saturation of potential binding sites (Blake, et al. 2004)

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) requires the capture of an individual sperm in a glass pipette for injection into an oocyte. This procedure is facilitated by first immobilizing the sperm. Probably the most practiced method is the reduction of sperm motility by placing it in a viscous fluid. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) has been used successfully to increase the viscosity of sperm solutions, thus facilitating the handling and immobilization of sperm. 
Moreover, PVP is used to prevent the sperm cells from sticking to the injection pipette during the ICSI procedure and to give more control over the flow of fluid in the ICSI needle (Gianaroli, et al. 2000).