Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33846481›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2021

A microfluidic approach to rapid sperm recovery from heterogeneous cell suspensions.

Steven A Vasilescu, Shayan Khorsandi, Lin Ding, Sajad Razavi Bazaz, Reza Nosrati, Debra Gook, Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. In vitro models of the male reproductive system: applications for developmental and reproductive toxicology.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Steven A VasilescuSchool of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Shayan KhorsandiSchool of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Lin DingSchool of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Sajad Razavi BazazSchool of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Reza NosratiDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia.
Debra GookReproductive Services, Royal Women's Hospital/Melbourne IVF, Melbourne, Australia.
Majid Ebrahimi WarkianiSchool of Biomedical Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia. majid.warkiani@uts.edu.au.
University of Technology Sydney · AUMonash University · AUUniversity of Melbourne · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The isolation of sperm cells from background cell populations and debris is an essential step in all assisted reproductive technologies. Conventional techniques for sperm recovery from testicular sperm extractions stagnate at the sample processing stage, where it can take several hours to identify viable sperm from a background of collateral cells such as white bloods cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), epithelial cells (ECs) and in some cases cancer cells. Manual identification of sperm from contaminating cells and debris is a tedious and time-consuming operation that can be suitably addressed through inertial microfluidics. Microfluidics has proven an effective technology for high-quality sperm selection based on motility. However, motility-based selection methods cannot cater for viable, non-motile sperm often present in testicular or epididymal sperm extractions and aspirations. This study demonstrates the use of a 3D printed inertial microfluidic device for the separation of sperm cells from a mixed suspension of WBCs, RBCs, ECs, and leukemic cancer cells. This technology presents a 36-fold time improvement for the recovery of sperm cells (> 96%) by separating sperm, RBCS, WBCs, ECs and cancer cells into tight bands in less than 5 min. Furthermore, microfluidic processing of sperm has no impact on sperm parameters; vitality, motility, morphology, or DNA fragmentation of sperm. Applying inertial microfluidics for non-motile sperm recovery can greatly improve the current processing procedure of testicular sperm extractions, simplifying the fertility outcomes for severe forms of male infertility that warrant the surgery.

Indexed as

MicrofluidicsBiopsyCell SeparationHumansK562 CellsLeukemiaMaleSpermatozoaSuspensionsTestisSuspensions

Identifiers

PMID33846481
PMCPMC8042033
OpenAlexW3154629637

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.