Effect of dielectrophoresis on spermatozoa

Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the motion of spermatozoa. The ability to directly control the motion of human spermatozoa has useful applications in artificial reproduction techniques. We propose using a non-uniform electric field to produce dielectrophoresis (DEP) force and manipulate the motion of spermatozoa. We analyse the variation in the time-averaged velocity of the spermatozoa with respect to the gradient of the mean square of the electric field. It is found that the velocity can be increased or decreased significantly. More notably, the X- and Y-spermatozoa respond to the DEP force to different extents because of their size variations. Therefore, a high-gradient electric field will result in a notable difference between the swimming velocities of the X- and Y-spermatozoa. The medical field may utilise this technique to increase the chances of selecting spermatozoa containing chromosomes for a particular gender, thereby advancing gender selection in artificial fertilisation techniques.