According to Agence France-Presse reported on March 22nd, more than 45 million couples worldwide suffer from infertility, and more than 40% of fertility problems are related to poor sperm quality.
The technology introduced by the American Journal of Scientific Translational Medicine aims to make it easy for men to test sperm quality at home, and the price is low.
Hardy Shafi, a co-author of the report and a doctor of medical engineering at Brigham Women's Hospital, said: "We want to find a way to make male infertility testing as simple and cheap as testing whether you are pregnant at home. This new detection method can analyze videos of semen samples that have not been diluted or washed within 5 seconds. "
According to the report, this method relies on two devices, an optical device that can be connected to a smartphone and a disposable device for storing semen samples.
The researchers tested the device with 350 semen samples at the fertility center of Massachusetts General Hospital.
This smart phone-based device can detect abnormal semen samples with an accuracy rate of 98%, which meets the standards of sperm concentration and activity set by the World Health Organization.
According to the report, the cost of materials needed to assemble this equipment is $4.45.
John Petro Roza, another co-author of the report and director of the Fertility Center of Massachusetts General Hospital, said: "This method will undoubtedly bring instant sperm testing technology to consumers or medical institutions with limited resources. This technology will provide people with faster and more convenient reproductive health services. "
This equipment is still in the prototype testing stage and has not been opened to the public. The researchers plan to conduct more tests and then apply for permission from the US Food and Drug Administration.