IVF pipette terminology is inconsistent across manufacturers, training programmes, clinical protocols, and geographies. The same instrument may be called different things depending on where you trained, which supplier you use, and which paper you last read. This guide maps the common alternative names.
Stripping pipette → also: denuding pipette, oocyte stripping pipette. Inner diameter 135–170 µm. Cumulus cell removal.
Blastomere biopsy pipette → also: day 3 biopsy pipette. Inner diameter ~30–40 µm. Cleavage-stage PGT.
Trophectoderm biopsy pipette → also: TE biopsy pipette, blastocyst biopsy pipette. Inner diameter ~25–35 µm. Day 5/6 PGT.
Polar body biopsy pipette → also: PB biopsy pipette. Inner diameter ~20–30 µm. Oocyte genetic assessment.
TESE pipette → also: sperm extraction pipette, tissue harvesting pipette. Testicular sperm retrieval.
Zona dissection pipette → also: PZD pipette, mechanical hatching pipette. Partial zona dissection.
AHA pipette → also: Tyrode's acid pipette, chemical hatching pipette. Acid-assisted zona dissolution.
Piezo-ICSI pipette → also: flat-tipped injection pipette. Used with piezoelectric drive systems.
Transfer pipette → also: embryo handling pipette, embryo washing pipette. Plastic, 170–250 µm.
As IVF laboratories implement LIMS and digital procurement, consistent nomenclature becomes a data quality issue. If your system uses 'denuding pipette' and your catalogue uses 'stripping pipette', you have a mapping problem that will eventually surface as an audit finding.
Cryolab supplies the full range of micromanipulation and handling pipettes for IVF laboratories across the UK and Ireland.
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