Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the repeatability and accuracy of canine sperm motility (total and progressive) assessment with a tablet-based Canine iSperm instrument compared to computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA). The experiment used fresh and frozen/thawed canine semen samples for comparisons of semen analysis parameters (concentration, total motility, and progressive motility) between a CASA system, iSperm, and NucleoCounter SP-100 (concentration) instruments. Spearman’s Rho correlational analysis was used to identify significant associations between motility assessment methods. Significant positive correlations were found between CASA assessment and iSperm for both progressive and total motility measurements. We also determined the coefficient of variation (CV) for repeatability of sample analysis for iSperm and CASA for fresh sperm, wherein each sample was assessed 10 times on both devices. For fresh and frozen-thawed samples, concentration assessment by iSperm showed high variability (CV= 19.9 ± 1.5%). For iSperm assessment of total and progressive motility, the CVs were 6.3 ± 0.5% and 10.7 ± 0.8%, respectively. The results indicate that the iSperm application offers an accurate and alternative measurement of motility to traditional CASA analysis, though caution should be taken when assessing concentration due to the high CV observed in this study.
Highlights
Microscopic assessment of sperm in motion has been used as a clinical and research tool for human and animal reproductive health over the past 340 years
The very low sperm motility of the post-thaw samples resulted in a high variation during consecutive motility assessments for coefficient of variation (CV) calculation (Table 1)
TM measurements were strongly correlated between the iSperm and both the CASA_iSperm and the CASA_canine, as well as between the CASA_iSperm and CASA_canine (Fig. 1A)
Summary
Microscopic assessment of sperm in motion has been used as a clinical and research tool for human and animal reproductive health over the past 340 years. In the past 40 years, the advancement of computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) has highlighted the ability to objectively assess large populations of motile and immotile sperm and has been summarized in considerable detail (Amann and Waberski, 2014). Visual assessments of canine sperm motility are subject to observer bias and for this reason, the use of automated or computerized systems has been growing for wider clinical usage. Automated or computerized assessment of sperm motility, a sperm physiological parameter that is necessary for fertilization in vivo, has grown as a standard of practice for human fertility clinics as well as livestock breeding. CASA has been successfully employed for accurate motility assessment in dogs (Ellington et al, 1993; Walker et al, 1982); due to high costs and bench-space limitations, few small animal veterinary practitioners have access to CASA systems (Root Kustritz, 2007)
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