A novel system for non-invasive selection of single spermatozoa with high DNA integrity for clinical in vitro fertilization (IVF) - Phase 1 I2I application

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One in six couples struggles with infertility worldwide. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), a procedure widely used to treat infertile couples, is a technique in which a single sperm is selected and injected into an egg with a tiny sharpened glass tube. The presence of sperm DNA damage or fragmentation in the single sperm used for ICSI lowers the fertilization rates and increases miscarriages. How do we choose the sperm with the best DNA integrity for ICSI? If we perform a standard test to assess the DNA integrity, presently, the sperm has to be destroyed in the process and cannot be used for ICSI. Since the invention of ICSI in 1992, single sperm selection for ICSI has been made by embryologists using empirical microscopic observation of single sperms' motility and morphology, which involves significant subjectivity and inconsistency. Currently, there is no technique capable of non-invasively quantifying both motility and morphology of individual sperms, or to correlate these measures with DNA integrity.****This project aims to develop the first quantitative technology for the non-invasive selection of single sperms with high DNA integrity. We are developing new computer vision microscopy and automation techniques to comprehensively measure motility and morphology parameters of single live sperms. These precisely measured characteristics of individual sperm will then be correlated to the same sperm's DNA fragmentation. The data will be used to establish machine learning models using the individual sperm motility and morphology characteristics to predict its DNA integrity. This new technology will eliminate the current subjectivity and inconsistency of sperm selection for ICSI, and standardize the selection of a single sperm with high DNA integrity to ultimately improve pregnancy rates and the health of offspring for patients undergoing IVF treatment.