Live motile sperm sorting device for enhanced sperm-fertilization competency: comparative analysis with density-gradient centrifugation and microfluidic sperm sorting

Purpose A live motile sperm sorting device -(LensHooke (R) CA0) developed to prevent the deleterious effects of centrifugation was evaluated comparatively with conventional density-gradient centrifugation (DGC) and microfluidic-based device (Zymot) in sperm selection. Methods Semen samples from 239 men were collected. CA0 under different incubation intervals ( 5, 10, 30, and 60 min) and temperatures (20, 25, and 37.) was conducted. The sperm quality in CA0-, DGC-, and Zymot-processed samples was then comparatively evaluated. Semen parameters included concentration, motility, morphology, motion kinematics, DNA fragmentation index (DFI), and the rate of acrosome-reacted sperm (AR). Results Total motility and motile sperm concentration increased in a time- and temperature-dependent manner and the total motility peaked for 30 min at 37.. In paired analysis, CA0 showed significantly higher total motility (94.0%), progressive motility (90.8%), rapid progressive motility (83.6%), normal morphology (10.3%), and lower DFI (2.4%) and AR (4.7%) than the other two methods in normozoospermic samples (all p < 0.05). For non-normozoospermic samples, CA0 had significantly better results than the other two methods (total motility 89.2%, progressive motility 80.4%, rapid progressive motility 74.2%, normal morphology 8.5%, DFI 4.0%, and AR 4.0%; all p < 0.05). Conclusion CA0 yielded spermatozoa with enhanced sperm fertilization potentials; DFI was minimized in samples processed by CA0. CA0 was effective for both normal and abnormal semen samples due to its consistent selection efficiency.

Automated summary

A live motile sperm sorting device (LensHooke (R) CA0) was compared with conventional density-gradient centrifugation (DGC) and microfluidic-based device (Zymot) in sperm selection. The results showed that CA0 yielded spermatozoa with better quality and lower DNA fragmentation index and acrosome reacted sperm rate compared to the other two methods.