New technique will help experts create male fertility heads or tails

A new method of sperm badysis to track the movement of the sperm tail could lead to substantial improvements in male fertility tests.

The technique measures the speed and action of the sperm flagella, or tail, which provides essential information for understanding whether the sperm of an ejaculate has the potential to reach and fertilize the egg.

It was developed by a team from the University of Birmingham led by Professor Dave Smith of the School of Mathematics, in partnership with the Center for Human Reproductive Science of the University, and is published today in review Human reproduction.

Professor Smith explains, "We have all heard of" sperm count "and the tools available to understand sperm – hand counting under the microscope – have not changed much since the 1950s. However, think about the technology: camera, computer, connectivity – to which we all now have access.This project is to harness these technologies of the 21st century to solve the problems of male fertility. "

Current methods of semen badysis to determine male fertility have been limited to counting the number of sperm cells produced or monitoring the head of the cell and understanding what a healthy swimming spermatozoon looks like.

Meurig Gallagher, lead author of the study, said: "Sperm has an extremely difficult task: it has to travel a distance of several thousand times its body length through the female reproductive tract in search of an egg. This trip reduces by several million The flagellum is responsible for propulsion and navigation, so it is essential to understand what success looks like – how a healthy tail moves and how it consumes energy. "

By combining high speed, fast digital imaging, mathematics and fluid dynamics to detect and track sperm in samples, the team developed a free software called FAST (flagellar capture and sperm tracking). They hope that clinical research teams around the world will begin using this information to better understand the link between sperm motility and fertility.

This better understanding will help researchers and clinicians to develop new interventions to address fertility problems in men.

Gemma Cupples, from the School of Mathematics, developed the mathematical model of the system to understand the amount of energy needed for sperm to swim effectively. "The new model allows us to measure tiny forces that are impossible to measure experimentally," she says. "The technique has considerable potential for other important problems, such as understanding the spread of bacteria and transporting fluids into tiny body spaces such as the brain."

Jackson Kirkman Brown MBE, of the Center for Human Reproductive Science of the University, led the clinical strategy. "Diagnostic techniques are rudimentary and there are still no drugs available to treat male infertility," he says. "We know that sperm motility is a major factor, so being able to badyze sperm movement in detail will help us identify appropriate treatments or lifestyle changes to resolve fertility issues." male, give couples clearer answers and allow better decisions.

"What is important, is that this technique should help better diagnose the appropriate treatment, that it is an inexpensive and" easy "treatment such as washing sperm and injection into the uterus, or more invasive and complex treatments such as such as IVF or ICSI – a process similar to IVF in which sperm is injected directly into the harvested egg. "