Glossary of Terms
Artesia - Normal death of the ovarian follicle following failure of the ovum to be fertilized.
Cryopreservation is the term used for the different cell freezing techniques involved in oocyte freezing, storage and the thawing processes.
Cryoprotectant is the fluid that the oocytes are placed in after retrieval. The cryoprotectant is used to freeze the eggs. The fluid is a comprised of organic chemical liquids and sugar that is used to buffer the egg cell during the stresses of freezing and thawing.
Embryo - An egg that has been fertilized by a sperm and that has undergone one or more divisions.
Follicles are the fluid filled sacs in the ovary, which contain the eggs relaeased at ovulation. Each month an egg develops inside the ovary in a fluid filled pocket called a follicle.
Oocyte - unfertilized egg (embryologist terminology: unfertilized female gamete (sex cell).
Ovaries are a pair of organs located in a woman's pelvis. There's usually one on each side of the uterus, each about the size and shape of a walnut. Their main functions are to release eggs and produce hormones.
Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs that can form on the ovary when one or more of the egg-containing follicles mature, but do not release the egg into the fallopian tube.
Preivitelline - Space between egg zona and the egg itself.
Primordial - first created or developed.
Sperm - Atozoon is the male counterpart gamete.
Vitrification is a form of cryopreservations where oocytes are rapidly cooled (less than one second) so that the fluid in the eggs doesn’t form to ice.
Zona pellucida is the translucent, elastic, noncellular layer that acts as a protective coating surrounding the egg.
Zygote is the fertilized egg before cell division begins.