Andrology: Evaluation of a computer-aided semen analysis system with sperm tail detection

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Stroemberg-Mika cell motion analyser (SM-CMA) which uses tail detection in order to discriminate between immotile spermatozoa and other particles. Analysis of the spermatozoa by the SM-CMA can easily be checked on a video monitor. The semen samples were from donors and patients visiting the fertility unit of the University Hospital, Hanzeplein. The Netherlands. Both fresh semen samples and purified sperm suspensions were used to estimate sperm counts and motility characteristics. We tested the use of the x10 objective instead of the x20 and we assessed the ways in which motility characteristcs were influenced by temperature. We found a considerable discrepancy between sperm concentrations measured manually and by computerized analysis, both in semen samples and in purified sperm suspensions. The SM-CMA correctly recognizes motile spermatozoa, but underestimates immotile ones. Although temperature affects motility characteristics, in routine measurements the influence of short cooling periods, which are unavoidable, was nil. We found that using the x10 objective can be useful, especially at low sperm concentrations. In our opinion, the SM-CMA system is, despite some shortcomings in its user-interface, a useful and versatile instrument for examination of human semen samples, with desirable features.