An innovative approach for in-situ detection of postejaculatory semen coagulation and liquefaction using superhydrophobic soot coated quartz crystal microbalances

At present, the abnormal viscosity of human ejaculate is a crucial parameter often associated with the male factor infertility. However, the existing techniques for seminal viscosity evaluation are prone to fair criticism, as most of them are semi-quantitative or too ineffective in monitoring the processes of semen coagulation and liquefaction. Within this article, we report a novel method for quantitative in-situ assessment of the postejaculatory dynamics and peculiarities of human seminal fluids (viscosity, volume, sperm concentration) using superhydrophobic soot coated quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs). A detailed analysis of the real-time sensor signal of two soot coated 5 MHz QCMs, generated by the raw ejaculates of normozoospermic and mild-moderate oligozoospermic patients, reveals that the QCMs can quantify the seminal viscosity (e.g. as normal, increased or hyperviscous) and detect in a highly repeatable manner the phases of semen coagulation and liquefaction. In addition, these devices seem useful in establishing correlative dependencies among the fluid volume, spermatozoa concentrations and observed signal fluctuations from patient-to-patient and measurement-to-measurement. Our findings open future opportunities for rapid, cost-effective and reliable determination of the basic parameters and reproductive potential of human spermatozoa based on the physicochemical properties of the seminal plasma. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.