<p>Scientists have developed a new smartphone-based device to measure semen quality, an advance that may prove to be a boon in countries lacking access to fertility tests.<br /><br />Researchers, including those from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US, have built an analyser consisting of an optical attachment that can connect to a smartphone and a disposable device onto which a semen sample can be loaded.<br /><br />The new test utilises the advancements in consumer electronics and microfabrication. A disposable microchip with a capillary tip and a rubber bulb is used for simple, power-free semen sample handling.<br /><br />Scientists also designed a user-friendly smartphone application that guides the user through each step of testing, and a miniaturised weight scale that wirelessly connects to smartphones to measure total sperm count.<br /><br />Researchers collected and studied about 350 clinical semen specimens at the MGH Fertility Centre to evaluate the test.<br /><br />Overall, the smart phone-based device was able to detect abnormal semen samples based on World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds for sperm concentration and motility with an accuracy of 98 per cent.<br /><br />The team also evaluated how well both trained and untrained users performed the test using the smartphone-based device.<br /><br />"We wanted to come up with a solution to make male infertility testing as simple and affordable as home pregnancy tests," said Hadi Shafiee of Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US.<br /><br />"Current clinical tests are lab-based, time-consuming, and subjective. This test is low-cost, quantitative, highly accurate, and can analyse a video of an undiluted, unwashed semen sample in less than five seconds," Shafiee added.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. <br /><br /></p>
<p>Scientists have developed a new smartphone-based device to measure semen quality, an advance that may prove to be a boon in countries lacking access to fertility tests.<br /><br />Researchers, including those from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US, have built an analyser consisting of an optical attachment that can connect to a smartphone and a disposable device onto which a semen sample can be loaded.<br /><br />The new test utilises the advancements in consumer electronics and microfabrication. A disposable microchip with a capillary tip and a rubber bulb is used for simple, power-free semen sample handling.<br /><br />Scientists also designed a user-friendly smartphone application that guides the user through each step of testing, and a miniaturised weight scale that wirelessly connects to smartphones to measure total sperm count.<br /><br />Researchers collected and studied about 350 clinical semen specimens at the MGH Fertility Centre to evaluate the test.<br /><br />Overall, the smart phone-based device was able to detect abnormal semen samples based on World Health Organisation (WHO) thresholds for sperm concentration and motility with an accuracy of 98 per cent.<br /><br />The team also evaluated how well both trained and untrained users performed the test using the smartphone-based device.<br /><br />"We wanted to come up with a solution to make male infertility testing as simple and affordable as home pregnancy tests," said Hadi Shafiee of Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US.<br /><br />"Current clinical tests are lab-based, time-consuming, and subjective. This test is low-cost, quantitative, highly accurate, and can analyse a video of an undiluted, unwashed semen sample in less than five seconds," Shafiee added.<br /><br />The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. <br /><br /></p>