New sperm imaging technology is claimed to boost IVF success rate

A new sperm selection method developed at Tel Aviv University, Israel, claims to increase IVF success rates from 34 percent to 65 percent.

The technology uses advanced imaging techniques to measure the internal structure of live sperm cells, without the need for potentially harmful dyes. This means embryologists may no longer need to use subjective criteria based solely on motility and basic morphology to evaluate the viability of a sperm sample.

'We knew sperm selection was important, but the fact that we could nearly double the success rate of IVF was surprising. This proves that sperm selection is a much more critical factor than previously believed,' Professor Natan Shaked, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tel Aviv University, who led the research told the Media Line.

While chemical dyes can reveal internal cell structures, they are not used in IVF because they risk damaging the sperm's DNA. To overcome this limitation, Professor Shaked's team developed a device that connects to a regular microscope that can evaluate three parameters simultaneously: internal sperm morphology, motility, and DNA fragmentation.

'Our technology provides embryologists with a new and essential tool to identify sperm cells that meet the World Health Organisation criteria for IVF labs,' explained Professor Shaked. 'This new method provides three-dimensional imaging and visualisation of the internal structure of biological cells without chemical staining, as it is based on the light-conducting properties of the cell contents, known as the refractive index. This method allows embryologists to analyse the internal structure and contents of live sperm cells and even measure new parameters like mass and volume.'

The technology, published in Biomedicines, is currently being tested in clinical trials across five hospitals in Israel, as well as at the University of California San Francisco Medical Centre and the University of Tokyo Hospital in Japan. Through QART Medical – an Israeli startup founded by Professor Shaked and CEO Alon Shalev – the method is also undergoing evaluation in diverse clinical settings.

'While we developed and tested the technology in our lab, we couldn't conduct full IVF treatments because we're not a hospital,' Professor Shaked told the Media Line. 'These collaborations allow us to test the technology at a global scale and prove its effectiveness in different medical environments.'

Preliminary results from trials at the Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon, Israel, have suggested an improvement in IVF success rates from 34 percent to 65 percent, with 20 pregnancies out of 31 embryo transfers compared to 14 out of 41 in the control group. Notably, one woman, after 15 unsuccessful IVF cycles, achieved pregnancy using this new method.

Since these results were based on a small patient sample size, further testing will be necessary to confirm the benefits and applicability of this innovative sperm selection method. In the meantime, Professor Shaked's team is refining additional methods to detect DNA fragmentation in sperm cells and aims to implement a fully automated process to further reduce human bias and enhance selection precision in the future.