A method for detecting viable sperm in men with infertility has been developed
Scientists have developed SpermSearch, an artificial intelligence-based technique that detects viable sperm in testicular biopsies from men with non-obstructive azoospermia. The method can detect healthy sperm 1,000 times faster than manual analysis.Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system, SpermSearch, that can detect healthy sperm in biopsy material from men suffering from severe infertility. The results of the study were published on Innovation Origins.
The authors noted that the prevalence of male infertility is steadily increasing and affects about 7% of the world's male population. Over the past 40 years, the number of sperm has halved. At the same time, about 10% of men with infertility suffer from nonobstructive azoospermia, in which there are no sperm in the ejaculate. Such patients undergo a testicular biopsy, and then the embryologist under a microscope examines the tissue to manually find viable sperm and then introduce them into the egg.
According to Stephen Vasilescu of the University of Technology Sydney, when the embryologist looks through the microscope, he or she sees a mixture of blood and tissue. In the entire sample, there may be as few as 10 sperm cells that need to be detected among millions of other cells. This process requires several specialists and takes about 6-7 hours.
The speed of identifying viable sperm is very important because the time interval in which fertilization is possible is often very short. SpermSearch analyzes photos of tissue samples and can identify viable sperm in a few seconds, that is 1000 times faster than manual analysis allows.
The authors emphasize that the new technology should help embryologists to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the analysis, not replace them, in addition, SpermSearch may not be suitable for all cases of male infertility. The method is at the proof-of-concept stage, and the development team plans to conduct clinical trials to confirm its effectiveness.