Abstract
The aim of this work was to create a microfluidic platform that uses in vitro fertilization (IVF) and avoids unnecessary damage to oocytes due to the dielectrophoretic force manipulation of the sperms and oocytes that occurs in a traditional IVF operation. The device from this research can serve also to decrease medium volumes, as well as the cost of cell culture under evaporation, and to prevent unnecessary risk in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). To decrease the impact and destruction of the oocyte and the sperm, we adopted a positive dielectrophoretic force to manipulate both the sperms and the oocyte. The mouse oocytes were trapped with a positive dielectrophoretic (p-DEP) force by using Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)-glass electrodes; the ITO-glass electrode chip was fabricated by wet etching the ITO-glass. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flow-focusing microfluidic device was used to generate microdroplets of micrometer size to contain the zygotes. The volume of the microdroplets was controlled by adjusting the flow rates of both inlets for oil and the DEP buffer. As a result, the rate of fertilization was increased by about 5% beyond that of the DEP treatment in traditional IVF, and more than 20% developed to the blastocyst stage with a low sperm-oocyte ratio.
Highlights
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the most effective treatments for infertility, commonly applied when other methods of achieving conception have failed
The experiments were approved by the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) Animal Care and Use Committee and conducted in accordance with the principles and procedures outlined in the CGMH Guidelines for the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC #2010083002)
We have demonstrated a DEP microfluidic IVF biochip that is able to enhance the rate of in vitro fertilization
Summary
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the most effective treatments for infertility, commonly applied when other methods of achieving conception have failed. Laboratory techniques, equipment, media, and their collective environments have altered over time and have positively influenced each step in human IVF, embryo culture and analysis, and embryo cryopreservation processes. These approaches aimed to improve embryo development in vitro have involved mostly the chemical composition of the culture media. Both conventional and sequential culture-medium systems have been refined; the development of high-quality blastocysts in vitro is common in clinical practice with a good prognosis [1,2,3]
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