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Novel device for male infertility screening with single-ball lens microscope and smartphone
Yoshitomo Kobori1, Peter Pfanner2, Gail S Prins2
1Department of Urology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Koshigaya, Japan; Department of Urology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Objective:
To investigate the usefulness of a novel semen analysis device consisting of a single-ball lens microscope paired with a state-of-the-art smartphone equipped with a camera.
Design:
Laboratory investigation.
Setting:
University research laboratory.
Patient(S):
A total of 50 semen samples obtained from volunteers were analyzed for count, concentration, and motility with an 0.8-mm ball lens and three types of smartphone. Comparisons were made with results obtained with a laboratory-based computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Sperm concentration; sperm motility.
Result(S):
Sperm concentration counted with a ball lens and each smartphone showed a very strong correlation with the CASA results. Likewise, sperm motility calculated with our device showed significant correlations to CASA. If eight spermatozoa or fewer were found on the field of view of an iPhone 6s, the semen specimens were considered to be below the lower reference limit for sperm concentration of World Health Organization 2010 guidelines (15 × 10(6) spermatozoa/mL). The sensitivity was 87.5%, and specificity was 90.9%.
Conclusion(S):
Smartphones have great potential to analyze semen because they are portable, contain excellent digital cameras, and can be easily attached to a microscope. A single-ball lens microscope is inexpensive and easy to use for acquiring digital microscopic movies. Given its small size and weight, the device can support testing for male fertility at home or in the field, making it much more convenient and economical than current practice. This single-ball lens microscope provides an easy solution for global users to rapidly screen for male infertility.
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