Trends in Biotechnology
ReviewMicrofluidics for sperm research
Section snippets
Current need for sperm-sorting technologies
Infertility affects about 50–80 million couples worldwide, accounting for 8–12% of couples with women of reproductive age [1]. Male infertility contributes to about one half of infertility cases [2]. Most cases are due to low sperm count, which is commonly caused by primary testicular failure. Nutritional deficiencies, stress, chronic inflammation, and environmental exposure to particular toxins can also decrease sperm quantity and quality. Low sperm count, low sperm motility, and sperm
Conventional technologies
Selection of sperm for IVF and ICSI is generally based on sperm motility because highly motile sperm are more capable of fertilizing an oocyte. Traditional sperm-selection techniques include the swim-up and density gradient-based centrifugation methods 15, 16. The swim-up method enables motile sperm to move away from its cohort of sedimented sperm into freshly layered media; however, the technique produces a low yield of motile sperm. Density gradient-based centrifugation can select sperm cells
What does the field of microfluidics hold for in vitro sperm research?
PMMA/PDMS-based microfluidic chips with a glass substrate enable direct microscopic imaging of the sample. Although these chips are convenient for sperm research, there remain some shortcomings, such as the thickness of these chips and the need for specialized instruments for chip fabrication. Hence, paper-based microfluidic chips are being investigated as a cheaper alternative. Earlier versions of paper microfluidic chips were opaque cellulose-based chips. However, these devices fall short
Concluding remarks and future perspectives
Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip devices have been proven to be effective in both (i) analyzing a wide range of sperm functions and (ii) selecting progressive motile sperm from a mixture of seminal plasma, non-reproductive cells, mature and immature spermatozoa, non-specific debris, and various microorganisms to improve IVF outcome. Conventional methods for sperm sorting can induce DNA damage, require labor-intensive procedures, and often yield low purity. There has been an increasing effort to
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2022, Reproductive ToxicologyCitation Excerpt :The results presented in this study demonstrate the viability of bovine sperm after exposure to a microfluidic device manufactured with Silpuran® and provide perspectives for its application compared to other conventional in vitro reproduction techniques. For IVF purposes, the choice of technique for sperm selection is based mainly on motility since sperm with better motility have a greater capacity to fertilize the oocyte [35]. The present data confirm that the application of Silpuran® silicone was non-toxic to bovine spermatozoa and provided a more significant gain in parameters such as TM, PM, VCL, VSL and VAP.