State-of-the-art and future perspectives in infertility diagnosis: Conventional versus nanotechnology-based assays

Abstract

According to the latest World Health Organization statistics, around 50 to 80 million people worldwide suffer from infertility, amongst which male factors are responsible for around 20 to 30 % of all infertility cases while 50 % were attributed to the female ones. As it is becoming a recurrent health problem worldwide, clinicians require more accurate methods for the improvement of both diagnosis and treatment schemes. By emphasizing the potential use of innovative methods for the rapid identification of the infertility causes, this review presents the news from this dynamic domain and highlights the benefits brought by emerging research fields. A systematic description of the standard techniques used in clinical protocols for diagnosing infertility in both genders is firstly provided, followed by the presentation of more accurate and comprehensive nanotechnology-related analysis methods such as nanoscopic-resolution imaging, biosensing approaches and assays that employ nanomaterials in their design. Consequently, the implementation of nanotechnology related tools in clinical practice, as recently demonstrated in the selection of spermatozoa, the detection of key proteins in the fertilization process or the testing of DNA integrity or the evaluation of oocyte quality, might confer excellent advantages both for improving the assessment of infertility, and for the success of the fertilization process.

Keywords: Bioengineering; Biosensing; Chromosomal abnormalities; Diagnosis; Female reproduction; Infertility; Microscopy; Nanoassay; Nanotechnology; Risk factors; Spermatogenesis.