New disposable microfluidic chip without evaporation effect for semen analysis in clinics and homes

Abstract

The number of infertile couples considering using assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) is growing. Several key indices, such as sperm concentration and motility, are considered when determining an appropriate technique among the existing ARTs. While microscopy is the only way to observe sperms, this method tends to overlook the actual swimming ability of sperms because sperms can be observed only within a very narrow field of view (FOV). In this paper, we propose a microfluidic chip capable of measuring the motility of sperms by inducing the actual swimming ability of sperms in microchannels. To determine whether sperms swim by themselves and reach the target point, 5–10 min is required in an incubator at 37 °C, which inevitably causes the evaporation of the fluid at the microfluidic chip inlet or outlet. A unique structure has been added to the microfluidic chip to prevent unwanted fluid flow due to evaporation, and counting and sorting capabilities of the fabricated device have been experimentally demonstrated. The microfluidic chip is shown to have a good agreement with commercial chips in total sperm counting. Another feature of sorting motile and progressive sperm to 95% on one chip is also verified. This feature differentiates our solution from the existing commercial chips and can help increase the success rate of ARTs. The developed MFC can provide a way to determine the actual swimming motility of sperms using a microscope in small clinics or a portable kit which is publicly available without the expensive sperm analysis equipment.