Microfluidic devices for the study of sperm migration

Microfluidics technology offers us an opportunity to model the biophysical and biochemical environments encountered by sperm moving through the female reproductive tract and, at the same time, to study sperm swimming dynamics at a quantitative level. In humans, coitus results in the deposition of sperm in the vagina at the entrance to the cervix. Consequently, sperm must swim or be drawn through the cervix, uterus, uterotubal junction and oviductal isthmus to reach the oocyte in the oviductal ampulla. Only a very small percentage of inseminated sperm reach the ampulla in the periovulatory period, indicating that strong selection pressures act on sperm during migration. A better understanding of how sperm interact with the female tract would inspire improvements in diagnosis of fertility problems and development of novel-assisted reproductive technologies that minimize damage to sperm and mimic natural selection pressures on sperm.