Automated semen analysis by SQA Vision^® versus the manual approach-A prospective double-blind study

Next to clinical investigations, the evaluation of male fertility relies mainly on detailed sperm analyses, for example, cell counting, motility, cell morphology and vitality testing. The manual creation of a spermiogram is time- and material-consuming. Therefore, reliable high-throughput systems that may be substituted for manual methods are urgently needed. The present study aimed to compare conventional sperm analysis performed as per WHO 5th guidelines and semen analysis performed with the SQA Vision^® machine. SQA Vision^® is a commercial device for automated sperm analysis. Data obtained independently by both methods were compared by statistical analyses using Bland-Altman plots and Passing-Bablok regression analyses. The analyses revealed that the results for sperm concentration and total motility were comparable. The agreement for progressive motility was poor, and there were clear deviations in the determination of normal sperm morphology. Passing-Bablok regression analyses and the consideration of the 95% confidence intervals pointed out systematic and proportional differences between the manual semen analysis and the automated approach.