Home Sperm Test Developed

The Dutch have invented a device that can help you test the quality of sperm in the privacy of your home. Men already did a lot of laughing at the news at different forums on the Internet. But, statistically, 25 percent of couples are facing fertility problems with the husband being to “blame” in a half of the cases.

One of the main indications of male fertility is the concentration of spermatozoa in ejaculate. Everything’s great if one milliliter of sperm contains over 20 million active spermatozoa and the seminal fluid does not show sings of inflammation. If you have lower concentration, the wrong shape of spermatozoa or the lack of their activity, or abnormal concentration of white blood cells in the sperm this might indicate fertility problems so you will need to undergo medical examination and, possibly, fertility treatment.

Spermogram that even many doctors had no idea about 15 years ago is now one of the staple male medical tests. Clinics have special rooms for taking sperm tests and some medical centers can provide containers to carry sperm from home to laboratory within one hour. Obviously, the procedure is fussy and embarrassing. Designers of a home fertility analyzer, specialists from the Institute for Nanotechnology and the University of Twente in Netherlands, claim their device to be as accurate as laboratory tests while allowing to assess the quality of ejaculate in the privacy of your home. The device let the sperm flow through a micro channel, above which electrodes are fitted to count spermatozoa by separating them from other cells. If there is a need, though, the device can count other cells, too. Scientists believe that this is enough for early diagnosis of infertility.

Spermatozoa are vulnerable to psychological stress. Psychologists say that the stress related to awkward sperm tests performed in unfamiliar surroundings can be detrimental to the quality of sperm. Home fertility analyzer can let men avoid awkward sperm test procedure and save their time because spermogram have to be repeated two to five times in a special lab that can’t be found at any town. It will also make wives’ life easier, awaiting for the test results. You do the test, get your result and take action. Pregnancy planning can be a bit easier. However, there is one “but”: it’s now uncertain when the test will go on sale.

Source of the image: sxc.hu/profile/clix.