AI Article Synopsis

  • * New lab-on-a-chip systems that enhance sperm selection require a deeper understanding of how sperm behave in narrow environments to boost success rates.
  • * This study presents experimental findings on sperm dynamics near walls, introduces a model to explain their alignment, and aims to optimize lab-on-a-chip designs for better infertility treatments.

Article Abstract

Infertility is a common medical condition encountered by health systems throughout the world. Despite the development of complex fertilization techniques, only one-third of these procedures are successful. New lab-on-a-chip systems that focus on spermatozoa selection require a better understanding of sperm behavior under ultra-confined conditions in order to improve outcomes. Experimental studies combined with models and simulations allow the evaluation of the efficiency of different lab-on-a-chip devices during the design process. In this work, we provide experimental evidence of the dynamics of sperm interacting with a lateral wall in a shallow chamber. We observe a decrease in average sperm velocity during initial wall interaction and partial recovery after the alignment of the trajectory of the cell. To describe this phenomenon, we propose a simple model for the sperm alignment process with a single free parameter. By incorporating experimental motility characterization into the model, we achieve an accurate description of the average velocity behavior of the sperm population close to walls. These results will contribute to the design of more efficient lab-on-a-chip devices for the treatment of human infertility.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7105397PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5143194DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

sperm velocity
8
ultra-confined conditions
8
lab-on-a-chip devices
8
sperm
6
hitting wall
4
wall human
4
human sperm
4
velocity recovery
4
recovery ultra-confined
4
conditions infertility
4

Similar Publications

Lepidium meyenii (Maca) is a plant that has nutritional benefits and increases the effectiveness of male reproduction. In this study, oxidative stress-exposed New Zealand rabbits were used to assess the ameliorative effects of daily Maca ingestion on testicular and epididymal tissues as well as the quality of fresh and frozen/thawed sperm. Twenty-four 40-week-old, healthy New Zealand white male rabbits were divided into four groups.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Preliminary steps for fabrication of microfluidic systems for swine sperm sorting: Materials, perfusing systems and flow.

Res Vet Sci

December 2024

Tissue Microenvironment (TME) Lab, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research (I3A), University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain; Institute for Health Research Aragón (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain. Electronic address:

The success rate of assisted reproductive techniques in the livestock production can be optimized by improving the quality of the semen sample by selecting only the good quality sperm from the ejaculate. Microfluidic technology has been studied for sperm sorting mainly in human ejaculates but has not been studied for boar sperm. Spermatozoa have been proven to be highly sensitive to different microplastics, but the potential toxic effects of the materials used to set up microfluidic systems have not been studied.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Evaluation of carp sperm respiration: fluorometry with optochemical oxygen sensor versus polarography.

Fish Physiol Biochem

February 2025

South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25, Vodňany, Czech Republic.

The primary function of spermatozoa is to fertilize the oocyte, which depends on their motility and is directly associated with their metabolic state. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of spermatozoa reflects the respiratory capacity of sperm mitochondria under various physiological conditions and is an essential marker of sperm quality. We determined the OCR of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) sperm using two respirometry methods: the conventionally used polarographic method with a Clark-type electrode and fluorometric assay with an Oxo Dish optochemical oxygen sensor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effect of appropriate extenders to maintain sperm functionality during short-term storage of sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) sperm with fertilization assay under hatchery conditions.

Fish Physiol Biochem

February 2025

Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, Vodňany, 38925, Czech Republic.

Short-term storage and management of sperm in vitro is an easy and economical process in which suitable extenders can be utilized to extend the storage period and prevent sperm function impairment. Therefore, the current study aimed to evaluate the effect of suitable extenders during the short-term storage of sterlet sperm and determine their fertilizing capacity and hatching success. Three extenders containing a composition of 16, 20, and 24 mM NaCl, 1 mM KCl, 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rheotaxis is one of the major migratory mechanisms used in autonomous swimmers such as sperms and bacteria. Here, we present a microfluidic chip using joint rheotaxis and boundary-following behavior that selects sperms based on the motility and persistence. The proposed device consists of a channel decorated with diamond-shaped pillars that create spots of increased velocity field and shear rate.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Notice

Message: fwrite(): Write of 34 bytes failed with errno=28 No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 272

Backtrace:

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Unknown

Line Number: 0

Backtrace: