COMPUTERIZED SPERM MOTION ANALYSES-CLINICAL TRIALS WITH A NEW PROTOTYPE

SPERM MOTION ANALYSES AND AUTOMATED SEMEN ANALYSES ARE PRESENTLY BEING PERFORMED BY COMPUTERIZED SYSTEMS. HOWEVER,THESE SYSTEMS ARE EXPENSIVE ($35,000-$45,000) AND THEY ARE NOT COST EFFECTIVE FOR MOST LABORATORIES. FURTHERMORE, IT IS STILL UNCLEAR WHETHER THE MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE DERIVED FROM THESE SYSTEMS HAVE CLINICAL RELEVANCE. AT THE FERTILITY TESTING LABORATORY, A NEW PROTOTYPE SYSTEM FOR SPERM MOTION ANALYSIS AND AUTOMATED SEMEN ANALYSIS HAS BEEN DEVELOPED WHICH HAS COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH CAPABILITIES IN ITS BASIC DESIGN, BUT IT HAS BEEN STREAMLINED FOR PRACTICAL CLINICAL USE. THIS SYSTEM MEASURES SPERM DENSITY, PERCENT MOTILITY, INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY, CURVILINEAR VELOCITY, NET VELOCITY, PROGRESSIVENESS RATIO, AND COURSE DIRECTION CHANGE. COURSE DIRECTION CHANGE IS A NEW MEASUREMENT THAT ALLOWS RECORDING THE ANGULAR CHANGES OF THE SPERM TRACKS ON A FRAME-TO-FRAME BASIS. PLANNED RESEARCH WILL CONTINUE WITH THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM BY EXAMINING A VARIETY OF CLINICALSPECIMENS FROM INFERTILITY PATIENTS AND DONORS, AND ANALYZING THESE DATA WITH STATITICAL ANALYSIS ROUTINES INCORPORATED INTO COMPUTER SOFTWARE. THESE CLINICAL TRIALS WILL HELP DEVELOP A MARKETABLE SYSTEM, AND PROVIDE US WITH DATA TO MOVE FORWARD INTO PHASE II TO STUDY OTHER NEW ASPECTS OF MOTION ANALYSIS, FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY, AND HARMONIC ANALYSIS.