Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing Hua University, No. 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu, Taiwan 30013, Republic of China.
Department of General Education, Taipei Medical University, No. 250, Wuxing Street, Taipei, Taiwan 11031, Republic of China.
Analyst. 2017 Mar 13;142(6):938-944. doi: 10.1039/c6an02420c.
In this paper, we propose a microfluidic device capable of generating a retarding flow field for the sorting and separation of human motile sperm in a high-throughput manner. The proposed sorting/separation process begins with a rapid flow field in a straight-flow zone to carry sperm into a sorting zone to maintain the sperm's mobility. The sorting zone consists of a diffuser-type sperm sorter to differentiate sperm with different motilities based on the flowing upstream nature of human sperm in a retarding flow field. The dead sperm will then be separated from the live ones by passing through a dumbbell flow field to the outlet for disposal. The proposed flowing upstream sperm sorter (FUSS) is designed to imitate the selection mechanism found in the female body when sperm swim into the uterus. The experimental results demonstrate the utility of this device with regard to throughput (approximately 200 000 sperm per minute and a maximum of 200 million cells per mL), efficiency (90% of selected sperm are mobile), and the ability to select sperm with high motility (∼20% of sperm with a velocity exceeding 120 μm s). The proposed device is suitable for intrauterine insemination as well as in vitro fertilization thanks to the highly efficient sorting process not interfering with the natural function and energy resource of human sperm.
本文提出了一种微流控装置，能够以高通量的方式产生阻滞流场，用于分选和分离人类游动精子。所提出的分选/分离过程始于直流通区的快速流场，以携带精子进入分选区，保持精子的流动性。分选区由扩散器型精子分选器组成，根据阻滞流场中人类精子的上游流动特性，对具有不同运动能力的精子进行区分。死精子然后通过哑铃流场进入出口进行处理，与活精子分离。所提出的上游流动精子分选器（FUSS）旨在模仿精子游入子宫时女性体内发现的选择机制。实验结果证明了该设备在吞吐量（每分钟约 200000 个精子，最大可达 2 亿个细胞/毫升）、效率（90%的选择精子是运动的）和选择高活力精子的能力（速度超过 120 μm s 的精子约占 20%）方面的实用性。由于高效的分选过程不干扰人类精子的自然功能和能量资源，因此该装置适用于宫内授精和体外受精。
