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Advances in sperm analysis: techniques, discoveries and applications

Nature Reviews Urology volume 18, pages 447–467 (2021)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 10 August 2021

This article has been updated

Abstract

Infertility affects one in six couples worldwide, and fertility continues to deteriorate globally, partly owing to a decline in semen quality. Sperm analysis has a central role in diagnosing and treating male factor infertility. Many emerging techniques, such as digital holography, super-resolution microscopy and next-generation sequencing, have been developed that enable improved analysis of sperm motility, morphology and genetics to help overcome limitations in accuracy and consistency, and improve sperm selection for infertility treatment. These techniques have also improved our understanding of fundamental sperm physiology by enabling discoveries in sperm behaviour and molecular structures. Further progress in sperm analysis and integrating these techniques into laboratories and clinics requires multidisciplinary collaboration, which will increase discovery and improve clinical outcomes.

Key points

  • Technical advances have improved the accuracy, speed and efficiency in the analysis of sperm motility, morphology and genetics.

  • Advances in sperm analysis improve sperm selection for infertility treatment by measuring sperm behaviour and biomarkers of fertility potential.

  • Discoveries in sperm locomotion and behaviour improve understanding of sperm motion and guidance within the female reproductive tract.

  • Analyses of sperm structure and molecules such as CatSper channels and ubiquitin increase understanding of sperm physiology and contribute to the identification of biomarkers of fertility potential.

  • Further progress in sperm analysis promises non-invasive testing for sperm selection, increased efficiency and accuracy via automation and artificial intelligence, and improved access to point-of-care assays.

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Fig. 1: Analysis of sperm motility and morphology.
Fig. 2: Analysis of sperm genetics.
Fig. 3: Analysis-enabled sperm selection.
Fig. 4: Analysis of sperm locomotion and behaviour.
Fig. 5: Analysis of sperm structure and molecules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Changsheng Dai, Zhuoran Zhang, Guanqiao Shan, Lap-Tak Chu, Zongjie Huang & Yu Sun

  2. CReATe Fertility Centre, Toronto, Canada

    Sergey Moskovtsev & Clifford Librach

  3. Division of Urology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada

    Keith Jarvi

  4. Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Keith Jarvi

  5. Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Yu Sun

  6. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Yu Sun

  7. Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Yu Sun

Authors
  1. Changsheng Dai
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  2. Zhuoran Zhang
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  3. Guanqiao Shan
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  4. Lap-Tak Chu
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  5. Zongjie Huang
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  6. Sergey Moskovtsev
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  7. Clifford Librach
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  8. Keith Jarvi
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  9. Yu Sun
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Contributions

Y.S., C.D., Z.Z. and K.J. contributed substantially to discussion of the content. C.D, Z.Z., G.S., L.-T.C. and Z.H. wrote the article. Y.S., S.M., C.L. and K.J. reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Keith Jarvi or Yu Sun.

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Nature Reviews Urology thanks R. Dada, N. Garrido and R. Henkel for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Dai, C., Zhang, Z., Shan, G. et al. Advances in sperm analysis: techniques, discoveries and applications. Nat Rev Urol 18, 447–467 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-021-00472-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-021-00472-2

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