Home > ... > Electrochemical systems > Fertility-chip, point-of-care semen analyzer using a lab-on-a-chip

Fertility-chip, point-of-care semen analyzer using a lab-on-a-chip

Fertility-chip, point-of-care semen analyzer using a lab-on-a-chip

Introduction

In the Netherlands, about ten percent of the couples remain involuntary childlessness and search for medical help. One of the first tests in the investigation of involuntary childlessness is a semen analysis. Nowadays, a man collects his semen in a special container and brings it within one hour to the hospital laboratory for analysis. However, this treatment is not very patient-friendly, it is labor intensive, and the intra-individual variation can be large, leading to unreliable results. The aim of this project is to develop a portable semen analyzer for semen analysis that can be used in the private environment at home.

Semen analysis is traditionally based on determination of the concentration, the motility and the morphology of the spermatozoa. These parameters are related to pregnancy, but there is still little consensus about which is the most important one. The portable semen analyzer should determine these parameters as well. The analyzer consists of a small measurement box for data storage equipped with disposable chips for semen handling. One way to investigate the concentration of the spermatozoa in a chip is using fluorescence labeling whether or not in combination with flow cytometry. A disadvantage of this method is the use of the labels, because it makes a pretreatment of the semen necessary which is not desirable in the home situation. A more suitable technique should be developed for the concentration measurement as well as the determination of motility and morphology. Besides techniques for the determination of the parameters, the chips should also have good properties for semen handling, such as anti-clogging and biocompatibility. The challenge of this research project is to develop techniques that make it possible to do reliable statements about the semen quality using a lab-on-a-chip device.

This project is carried out in close cooperation with the laboratory and gynecology division of the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede.

Interested?

If you are interested and for instance would like to do graduation work or a practical term, please contact via the email address below.

Contact information

Loes Segerink or Ad Sprenkels

MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology

University of Twente

P.O. Box 217

7500 AE Enschede

The Netherlands

Phone: +31 (0)53 489 3944 (Loes) or +31 (0)53 489 3956 (Ad)

E-mail: l.i.segerink@ewi.utwente.nl or a.j.sprenkels@ewi.utwente.nl