New at-home male fertility test

Scientists in Holland have developed a new "fertility test" that could be used to provide accurate measurements of sperm levels in a simple home testing kit.

At least a third of all cases of infertility in couples are due to the male partner. But testing the man's sperm is a complex process requiring stringent pre-test preparations and a specialized laboratory. Tests often have to be repeated two to five times for sufficient reliability.

Although there are home testing kits for male fertility, they can only give a simple "above or below normal" reading. But in a breakthrough, the scientists at University of Twente’s MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology developed a chip that can accurately count spermatozoa in sperm.

This is an important step towards the development of a compact device for reliable 'pre-scanning' of male fertility.

The chip developed by researcher Loes Segerink can accurately count spermatozoa. Concentration is an important indication of the sperm count: the norm for fertility is 20 million spermatozoa per millilitre of ejaculate.

Measurements of the change in electrical resistance of a part of the chip as sperm flows through it provide the indication of the spermatozoa levels. Steps are taken to distinguish between actual spermatozoa and other elements in the semen.

White blood cell levels can also be measured by the device, which is important, as this can be a good indicator of overall sperm quality.

The next steps are to determine if the device can be made to measure the movement and shape of the spermatozoa, which are also key quality factors in fertility. If this can be done, then a single compact device could be created to allow men to easily and cheaply test their sperm at home.

The research will be published in the journal Lab on a Chip.

This article was published on Wed 17 February 2010