Sperm quality metrics were improved by a biomimetic microfluidic selection platform compared to swim-up methods

Steven A Vasilescu; Lin Ding; Farin Yazdan Parast; Reza Nosrati; Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani

doi:10.1038/s41378-023-00501-7

Sperm quality metrics were improved by a biomimetic microfluidic selection platform compared to swim-up methods

Microsyst Nanoeng. 2023 Mar 28:9:37. doi: 10.1038/s41378-023-00501-7. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Steven A Vasilescu¹, Lin Ding², Farin Yazdan Parast³, Reza Nosrati³, Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ NeoGenix Biosciences pty ltd, Sydney, NSW 2126 Australia.
² School of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007 Australia.
³ Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800 Australia.
⁴ Institute for Biomedical Materials & Devices (IBMD), Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007 Australia.

Abstract

Sperm selection is an essential component of all assisted reproductive treatments (ARTs) and is by far the most neglected step in the ART workflow in regard to technological innovation. Conventional sperm selection methodologies typically produce a higher total number of sperm with variable motilities, morphologies, and levels of DNA integrity. Gold-standard techniques, including density gradient centrifugation (DGC) and swim-up (SU), have been shown to induce DNA fragmentation through introducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) during centrifugation. Here, we demonstrate a 3D printed, biologically inspired microfluidic sperm selection device (MSSP) that utilizes multiple methods to simulate a sperms journey toward selection. Sperm are first selected based on their motility and boundary-following behavior and then on their expression of apoptotic markers, yielding over 68% more motile sperm than that of previously reported methods with a lower incidence of DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. Sperm from the MSSP also demonstrated higher motile sperm recovery after cryopreservation than that of SU or neat semen. Experiments were conducted side-by-side against conventional SU methods using human semen (n = 33) and showed over an 85% improvement in DNA integrity with an average 90% reduction in sperm apoptosis. These results that the platform is easy-to-use for sperm selection and mimics the biological function of the female reproductive tract during conception.

Keywords: Engineering; Materials science.