Purpose: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Center for Reproductive Medicine (ACRM) transitioned its annual training in assisted reproductive technology (ART) from a hands-on, laboratory-based training course to a fully online training endorsed by the American College of Embryology. Here we describe our experience and assess the quality of an online training format based on participant outcomes for the first three modules of a planned series of online ART training.
Materials And Methods: These modules included manual semen analysis, sperm morphology and ancillary semen tests (testing for leukocytospermia, sperm vitality, and anti-sperm antibody screening).
Semen analysis is a basic test for evaluating male fertility potential, as it plays an essential role in driving the future management and treatment of infertility in couples. Manual semen analysis includes the evaluation of both macroscopic and microscopic parameters, whereas automated semen analysis is conducted through a computer-aided sperm analysis system and can include additional parameters that are not evaluated by manual analysis. Both quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) are important to ensure reproducible results for semen analysis, and represent fundamental checks and balances of all stages (pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical) of semen analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To study the global DNA methylation pattern in spermatozoa of patients with varicocele as well as investigate their semen quality.
Design: Prospective observational case-control study.
Setting: University-affiliated hospital.