Bioengineering Approaches for Male Infertility: From Microenvironmental Regeneration to in vitro Fertilization

Male factor accounts for 30-50% of infertility cases and may occur due to congenital anomalies or acquired disorders. In such infertility cases where a limited number of mature sperm is produced, a solution is offered to patients with ART applications; however, these methods are inadequate in patients with germ cell aplasia due to damaged microenvironment. Since monolayer cell culture and static culture conditions do not provide the physical conditions of the 3D microenvironment, they have a limited effect on ensuring the execution of in vitro spermatogenesis properly. For this reason, current treatment approaches turn to biomaterial-implemented, microfluidic, and bioreactor systems where 3D physical conditions are provided. This book chapter focuses on static and dynamic culture conditions, as well as the use of biomaterials to increase the success of ex vivo spermatogenesis and microfluidic device-assisted sperm selection in ART.