A novel microfluidic device with parallel channels for sperm separation using spermatozoa intrinsic behaviors

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Biology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics

Background:

• High-quality motile sperm isolation is crucial for artificial pregnancy.
• Current clinical sperm separation methods can be invasive.
• Microfluidics offers a promising alternative by mimicking in-vivo conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel microfluidic device for enhanced sperm separation.
• To increase processed sample volume and flow rate using parallelization and symmetry.
• To improve upon conventional microfluidic sperm separation techniques relying solely on rheotaxis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the finite element method (FEM) and flow simulations to predict sperm cell trajectories.
• Designed a microfluidic device exploiting parallelization through symmetry.
• Experimentally tested various flow rates (0-6 μl/min) to assess their impact on sperm isolation.

Main Results:

• The proposed microfluidic device successfully increased processed sample volume and injected flow rate.
• Flow rate manipulation influenced the size of the sperm separation zone and the number of isolated cells.
• Achieved 100% isolation of motile sperm cells, with potential for separating cells based on motility parameters.

Conclusions:

• The novel microfluidic device offers an efficient and non-invasive method for isolating high-quality motile sperm cells.
• The parallelization design and controllable flow rates enhance sperm separation capabilities.
• This technology has the potential to improve assisted reproductive technologies and sperm banking.