Microfluidics for sperm analysis and selection

Nosrati, Reza; Graham, Percival J.; Zhang, Biao; Riordon, Jason; Lagunov, Alexander; Hannam, Thomas; Escobedo, Carlos; Jarvi, Keith; Sinton, David

doi:10.1038/nrurol.2017.175

Cited by 160 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 233 publications

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“…It remains to be seen if these will be applicable to sperm aneuploidy testing given the unique characteristics of the sperm cell. Another interesting area of future development lies in microfluidics, which is increasingly being applied to various fields of medicine and has been proposed as an additional tool to sort and analyze sperm for ART (Nosrati et al 2017, Quinn et al 2018, Samuel et al 2018. It is plausible that such microfluidic devices may be able to preferentially identify and select certain sperm characteristics and even possibly reduce the chance of selecting aneuploid sperm for use in ART, although this remains to be tested.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meiotic nondisjunction and sperm aneuploidy in humans

2018

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Infertility is relatively common affecting approximately 1-in-6 couples. Although the genetic basis of infertility is increasingly being uncovered, the contribution of male infertility often remains unexplained. The leading cause of pregnancy loss and cognitive impairment in humans is chromosome aneuploidy. Sperm aneuploidy is routinely evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization. The majority of studies have reported similar findings, namely: (1) all men produce aneuploid sperm; (2) certain chromosomes are more prone to undergo chromosome nondisjunction; (3) infertile men typically have significantly higher levels of sperm aneuploidy compared to controls and (4) the level of aneuploidy is often correlated with the severity of the infertility. Despite this, sperm aneuploidy screening is rarely evaluated in the infertility clinic. Within recent years, there appears to be renewed interest in the clinical relevance of sperm aneuploidy. We shall examine the gender differences in meiosis between the sexes and explore why less emphasis is placed on the paternal contribution to aneuploidy. Increased sperm aneuploidy is often perceived to be modest and not clinically relevant, compared to the female contribution. However, even small increases in sperm aneuploidy may impact fertility and IVF cycle outcomes. Evidence demonstrating the clinical relevance of sperm aneuploidy will be discussed, as well as some of the challenges precluding widespread clinical implementation. Technological developments that may lead to widespread clinical implementation will be discussed. Recommendations will be suggested for specific patient groups that may benefit from sperm aneuploidy screening and whether preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy should be discussed with these patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meiotic nondisjunction and sperm aneuploidy in humans

2018

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“…In the past decade, some microfluidic devices have been proposed for ART applications (27)(28)(29), including those that have been used to separate sperm (30). In one effort, a passive microfluidic system called microscale integrated sperm sorter (MISS) was proposed that could separate motile sperm from the rest of the sample (8).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Rheotaxis-based separation of sperm with progressive motility using a microfluidic corral system

Zaferani

Cheong

Abbaspourrad

2018

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The separation of motile sperm from semen samples is sought after for medical infertility treatments. In this work, we demonstrate a high-throughput microfluidic device that can passively isolate motile sperm within corrals inside a fluid channel, separating them from the rest of the diluted sample. Using finite element method simulations and proposing a model for sperm motion, we investigated how flow rate can provide a rheotaxis zone in front of the corral for sperm to move upstream/downstream depending on their motility. Using three different flow rates that provided shear rates above the minimum value within the rheotaxis zone, we experimentally tested the device with human and bovine semen. By taking advantage of the rheotactic behavior of sperm, this microfluidic device is able to corral motile sperm with progressive velocities in the range of 48-93 μm⋅s and 51-82 μm⋅s for bovine and human samples, respectively. More importantly, we demonstrate that the separated fractions of both human and bovine samples feature 100% normal progressive motility. Furthermore, by extracting the sperm swimming distribution within the rheotaxis zone and sperm velocity distribution inside the corral, we show that the minimum velocity of the corralled sperm can be adjusted by changing the flow rate; that is, we are able to control the motility of the separated sample. This microfluidic device is simple to use, is robust, and has a high throughput compared with traditional methods of motile sperm separation, fulfilling the needs for sperm sample preparation for medical treatments, clinical applications, and fundamental studies.

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“…Conventionally, sperm cells are handled manually with pipettes. In recent studies, the manipulation of sperm cells by liquid flows in microfluidic channels -often as part of so-called lab-on-a-chip systems -has been demonstrated (Knowlton et al 2015, Nosrati et al 2017, as well as the capture and fixation of individual sperm cells by optical tweezers (Ohta et al 2010). However, sperm-hybrid micromotors rely on the direct contact between cell and synthetic component on the microscale, allowing remote control of the individual sperm cell and direct sensing of its behavior in response to external stimuli that may be channeled through the synthetic attachment.…”

Section: Integration Of Sperm-hybrid Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sperm-hybrid micromotors: on-board assistance for nature’s bustling swimmers

2020

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Sperm cells that cannot swim and orient properly compromise male fertility. Such defects are responsible for male infertility regardless of the actual quality of the most important content, the sperm’s DNA. Synthetic micromotors are engineered devices that are able to swim in (body) fluids and microscopic environments, similar to flagellated cells like sperm. Coupled together, a sperm-hybrid micromotor embodies the concept of bringing the sperm cell together with artificial components that assist or replace defective functions of the cell, helping it to pursue its goal without interfering with its health, enabling the process of assisted fertilization and further embryo development all inside the body. Non-invasive, remote-controlled in vivo applicability is the key quality of such hybrid microdevices. Assisted reproduction with the help of micromotors is in the focus of this review, although other biomedical applications that arise from the powerful combination of sperm cell and synthetic enhancement are also discussed and summarized. Details are provided about different fabrication processes and cell-material coupling strategies, and the way from proof-of-concept studies to in vivo experiments in animals is outlined.

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Microfluidics for sperm analysis and selection

Cited by 160 publications

References 233 publications

Meiotic nondisjunction and sperm aneuploidy in humans

Meiotic nondisjunction and sperm aneuploidy in humans

Rheotaxis-based separation of sperm with progressive motility using a microfluidic corral system

Sperm-hybrid micromotors: on-board assistance for nature’s bustling swimmers

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