Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

MALE FACTOR INFERTILITY

How to select ICSI-viable sperm from the most challenging samples

Nature Reviews Urology volume 19, pages 135–136 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

Sperm characteristics are routinely assessed in fertility clinics as decisive factors to select sperm for improved intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes. A recent study suggests that, in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia, no specific defect or combination of abnormalities in testicular sperm precluded chance of pregnancy, while also suggesting sperm motility and acrosome defects are the proxies relevant to ICSI outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Machine learning algorithm-based testicular sperm selection.

References

  1. Corona, G. et al. Sperm recovery and ICSI outcomes in men with non-obstructive azoospermia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum. Reprod. Update 25, 733–757 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Agarwal, A. et al. Male infertility. Lancet 397, 319–333 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Vasilescu, S. A. et al. A microfluidic approach to rapid sperm recovery from heterogeneous cell suspensions. Sci. Rep. 11, 7917 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Aboukhshaba, A. et al. Testicular sperm characteristics in men with nonobstructive azoospermia and their impact on intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome. Fertil. Steril. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2021.09.024 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Zheng, J. et al. Decreased sperm motility retarded ICSI fertilization rate in severe oligozoospermia but good-quality embryo transfer had achieved the prospective clinical outcomes. PLoS ONE 11, e0163524 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Marzano, G. et al. Sperm selection in assisted reproduction: a review of established methods and cutting-edge possibilities. Biotechnol. Adv. 40, 107498 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Dai, C. et al. Advances in sperm analysis: techniques, discoveries and applications. Nat. Rev. Urol. 18, 447–467 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. You, J. B. et al. Machine learning for sperm selection. Nat. Rev. Urol. 18, 387–403 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Esteves, S. C., Roque, M., Bradley, C. K. & Garrido, N. Reproductive outcomes of testicular versus ejaculated sperm for intracytoplasmic sperm injection among men with high levels of DNA fragmentation in semen: systematic review and meta-analysis. Fertil. Steril. 108, 456–467 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Reza Nosrati

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    David Sinton

Authors
  1. Reza Nosrati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Sinton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Reza Nosrati or David Sinton.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nosrati, R., Sinton, D. How to select ICSI-viable sperm from the most challenging samples. Nat Rev Urol 19, 135–136 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-021-00546-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41585-021-00546-1

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing