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Related Experiment Videos

A novel microfluidic device for male subfertility screening.

Matthew C McCormack1, Stewart McCallum, Barry Behr

  • 1Department of Urology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. mccormac@stanford.edu

The Journal of Urology
|May 16, 2006
PubMed
Summary

A new microfluidic device accurately measures motile sperm concentration, offering a simple, disposable tool for male infertility screening. This technology shows high sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional methods.

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Area of Science:

  • Reproductive biology
  • Biomedical engineering
  • Infertility diagnostics

Background:

  • Current semen quality tests lack simplicity, disposability, and accuracy.
  • Assessing motile sperm concentration is crucial for male infertility diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present a novel microfluidic device for assessing human ejaculate's motile sperm concentration.
  • To evaluate the accuracy of this device against established semen analysis methods.

Main Methods:

  • A micromachined device utilizes fluorescently labeled sperm and microfluidics.
  • A microfluorometer quantifies sperm accumulation over 50 minutes.
  • Results were compared with computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) on 21 semen specimens.

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Main Results:

  • The device signal strongly correlated with total (r=0.79) and progressive (r=0.80) motile sperm concentration (p<0.001).
  • Established thresholds demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for identifying samples below WHO standards.
  • Screening sensitivity/specificity reached 94%/97% for total motile concentration and 96%/90% for progressive motile concentration.

Conclusions:

  • A novel microfluidic device provides accurate assessment of motile sperm concentration.
  • This 'lab-on-a-chip' technology is feasible for male infertility screening.