Recent Microfluidic Innovations for Sperm Sorting

Lensless imaging for simultaneous microfluidic sperm monitoring and sorting.

5.3 million American couples of reproductive age (9%) are affected by infertility, among which male factors account for up to 50% of cases, which necessitates the identification of parameters defining sperm quality, including sperm count and motility. In vitro fertilization (IVF) with or without intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has become the most widely used assisted reproductive techn...

Microfluidic Single Sperm Analysis

Screening of sperm velocity by fluid mechanical characteristics of a cyclo-olefin polymer microfluidic sperm-sorting device.

The microfluidic sperm-sorting (MFSS) device is a promising advancement for assisted reproductive technology. Previously, poly(dimethylsiloxiane) and quartz MFSS devices were developed and used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection. However, these disposable devices were not clinically suitable for assisted reproduction, so a cyclo-olefin polymer MFSS (COP-MFSS) device was developed. By micromac...

Exhaustion of racing sperm in nature-mimicking microfluidic channels during sorting.

Fertilization is central to the survival and propagation of a species, however, the precise mechanisms that regulate the sperm's journey to the egg are not well understood. In nature, the sperm has to swim through the cervical mucus, akin to a microfluidic channel. Inspired by this, a simple, cost-effective microfluidic channel is designed on the same scale. The experimental results are support...

Nanoparticle Sorting in Microfluidic Channels

A device capable of detecting, characterizing and sorting nanoparticles and important biological targets would be an invaluable tool both for public health monitoring and for biomedical research. We describe the development of a microfluidic device that should permit the high-throughput sorting of nanoparticles, potentially able to sort hundreds to thousands of particles per second.