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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Aug 9.
Published in final edited form as: Methods Enzymol. 2010;476:53–69. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(10)76004-3

Figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1

Preparing and loading cryopreservation straws. (A) A picture of a cryopreservation straw manufactured by IMV Technologies, Inc. (B) The cotton/PVA plug (arrow head) is pushed inward till it is ~4.5 cm from the end. Then, two lines are drawn using a marker on the straw, which are ~0.5 and ~2.0 cm from the open end, respectively. (C) Loading of CPA and sperm samples. A dark-colored solution is used in this example for easy visualization. Using the attached plastic syringe (arrow), a 2.0-cm-long segment of CPA is first drawn, and then a 2.0-cm-long segment of air is drawn into the straw. Next, two 0.5-cm-long segments of sperm samples, separated by a 0.5 cm segment of air, are drawn. Finally, more air is drawn into the straw till the first segment of CPA wets the cotton/PVA plug. The straw is now ready for sealing. Each 0.5 cm segment of sperm sample corresponds to 10 µl of sample, which is enough for one IVF dish.