Loes Segerink and her team develop compact, chip-based diagnostics to make fertility testing faster, more accessible, and easier to discuss, particularly for men.
In fertility diagnostics, most attention and most testing still centres around women. That’s a problem, says UT researcher Loes Segerink. “In roughly half of all cases, fertility issues have a male cause. But testing men is still treated as sensitive, complicated, or something you only do later.”
Loes is developing lab-on-a-chip devices that can change that. These are small, fast diagnostic tools that work with just a drop of fluid. Inside the chip, tiny channels guide sperm cells through an automated analysis. In minutes, it can measure concentration, movement, and other functional properties of the cells. Data that would normally take a lab longer to generate. “The goal is to bring testing out of the lab and closer to people,” she explains. “To make it available at home, in the GP’s office, or wherever it’s needed.”
Why sperm cells don’t need a microscope anymore
The chips Loes and her team develop are built using microfluidics, which involves precise control of liquid flow on a microscopic scale. Some chips rely on optical sensing, while others measure electrical signals to detect whether cells are moving and how. Her team also explores imaging-free sensors, which could make future tests cheaper and easier to scale up.
A key principle behind the work is low-threshold access and getting more information about the quality. Not just faster testing, but testing that requires less infrastructure, less waiting, and (just as important) less stigma. “There are topics people avoid because they’re awkward,” says Loes. “But if you give them a simple, objective tool, you lower the barrier.” For animal trials, the team works with pig sperm, which behaves similarly to human sperm and allows for faster iteration in the lab.
When will it be used in real life?
The technology is now reaching a level where it could move from the lab to practical applications. Some chips are already being developed into test kits. Others are being refined for use in point-of-care settings, for example, in GP clinics or fertility centres. The next steps include further miniaturisation, more integrated electronics, and automated data analysis, so users can get clear, reliable feedback without needing a lab technician to interpret results.
Not only is fertility measured in her lab, but also other male-related issues that have a severe impact: erectile dysfunction. In collaboration with LUMC and St Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein, the focus is on an electrical sensor that can detect erections during the night to evaluate the cause of erectile dysfunction. It’s a serious diagnostic need, but often hard to bring up.
Loes also leads a growing group of PhD students and postdocs working on new generations of sensors. What connects all of it is a simple idea: give people access to their health information, earlier, easier, and without shame. “It shouldn’t be uncomfortable to talk about fertility,” she says. “It should be normal to test early and understand what’s going on. If we make that easier, we help a lot of people.”
Loes Segerink and Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) made a podcast about this topic. You can listen to the podcast (in Dutch) here.