The key for having a healthy baby via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is to select the healthiest and best swimming sperm from semen. With new microfluidic technology, the task has become easier to improve sperm sorting, researchers report.
Microfluidics - micro-scale technologies that were originally developed to enable high-throughput gene sequencing and for point-of-care diagnostics - are now being adapted to enhance sperm sorting.
These new methods, reviewed by engineers in the journal Trends in Biotechnology, are generating promising results in applications such as single-sperm genomics, in-home male fertility testing and wildlife conservation efforts that seek to maintain populations of endangered species.
"Fertilisation and reproduction are key to the propagation of a species. Microfluidic technologies offer to develop a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms for sperm's motion in complex microenvironments," explained senior author Savas Tasoglu, assistant professor in the University of Connecticut's department of mechanical engineering."
Conventional methods for sperm sorting can cause DNA damage, require labour-intensive procedures and often yield low purity.
Tasoglu and his colleagues have detailed easy-to-use, disposable, inexpensive, and high-throughput microfluidic solutions for sperm selection.
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It includes devices that sort sperm though the use of chemicals, heat, gravity, and other forces and factors.
"Each of these, especially combinations of multiple approaches, has great potential to sort or control sperm cells and ultimately revolutionise sperm research," added lead study author Stephanie Knowlton.
The investigators anticipate that microfluidics will make it possible to translate tools developed in research labs into compact, affordable and accessible products for patients and physicians that require only minimal sample volumes.