This article is a summary of new and exciting research, highlighted by Dr. Sheldon Marks, a leading expert, author and lecturer in vasectomy reversals, summarizing new cutting-edge breakthroughs on sperm and fertility.
Scientist know that sperm are amazing little cells, capable of doing so much to swim and survive against so many hostile filters and barriers in the female reproductive tract. These filters and barriers are designed to prevent the sperm from swimming up to the egg to deliver the other half of the DNA needed for the miracle of life. We are all witnesses to an amazing time in medicine where couples that have had a vasectomy and witch to have a child after vasectomy reversal which allows a couple to use natural conception, can instead move to directly to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to make an embryo that is then implanted to create a baby.
But are the doctors doing all we can do to be sure that the healthiest sperm are the ones that are selected? Do we allow this to be a random pick by the embryologist in the back lab? Are the sperm that are chosen really the healthiest that would have survived the “Sperm Olympics” in the female reproductive tract to get to the egg? After all, the ideal goal would be to have a vasectomy reversal so that all these amazing natural filters will still be in place to ensure that the offspring will be healthy.
Many doctors worry that with IVF we are bypassing a series of critical tests and filters within the female reproductive tract which are designed to eliminate millions of those “less than perfect” sperm from making it to the egg. We understand that each sperm must travel thousands of sperm lengths in the hostile female reproductive tract to swim to the egg.
Discussed at the 2018 American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) annual international meeting and at subsequent meetings, researchers in human fertility have uncovered a new way of filtering the sperm so that only the very healthiest of the healthiest will be used to make an embryo with IVF (1).
Scientists have started to use what is called “microfluidics” to put sperm though a series of complex mazes of scientifically designed convoluted channels to mimic those natural channels in the cervix (2). These channels have been shown to block the less than perfect sperm and select out only the sperm that are the healthiest, with the thought and hope that these few surviving sperm, the “Olympians” would result in healthier babies.
Scientists studying the pathways that sperm must take have looked at various microscopic channels, specifically the length and width of the micro-canals, as well as the specific angles, twists and turns. They found that the sperm that can negotiate and swim through these barriers are the only ones that can swim all the way up to the egg (3). For couples that are unable to try to make a baby the natural way after a vasectomy reversal, doctors in a fertility lab who want the very best sperm someday will be able to use microfluidics to select out the very best. Like a mouse in a maze running to find the cheese, scientists are learning to recreate the hurdles within the female reproductive tract designed to filter out all those “less than perfect” sperm. The embryologist would select one of these Olympic gold medal sperm to inject into each egg for IVF or use these sperm for intra-uterine insemination (IUI), thus increasing the chances for the healthiest children.
For any questions about sperm, male fertility or vasectomy reversals, our ICVR vas reversal team of professionals can talk to you!
This summary was reviewed, edited and updated on June 13, 2023 by Sheldon HF Marks, MD.
References:
1.IVF-on-a-Chip: Recent Advances in Microfluidics Technology for In Vitro Fertilization. Weng L. SLAS Technol. 2019 Aug;24(4):373-385.
2.Microfluidics for sperm analysis and selection. Nosrati R et al. Nat Rev Urol. 2017 Dec;14(12):707-730.
3.Microfluidic devices for the study of sperm migration. Suarez SS, Wu M. Mol Hum Reprod. 2017 Apr 1;23(4):227-234.
