Coming App Tests Sperm For Fertility Levels

This isn’t exactly news that most of us here can use, but the technology is interesting. CNN reports:

“Fertility is a big problem. Men are embarrassed to go to their urologist for infertility testing,” said Dr. Hadi Shafiee, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who led the study. “This is going to be the first fully automated device to make infertility testing as simple as home pregnancy tests for women,” he said.The test works using a combination of hardware and software technology, Shafiee explained, in combination with a disposable kit and chip used to collect a man’s sperm sample.

Samples are inserted into the chip, which is in turn inserted into an accessory case containing lenses and an LED to illuminate and magnify the sample for capture by the phone’s camera. “The lenses align with the phone’s camera,” Shafiee said. The test works using a combination of hardware and software technology, Shafiee explained, in combination with a disposable kit and chip used to collect a man’s sperm sample.

Samples are inserted into the chip, which is in turn inserted into an accessory case containing lenses and an LED to illuminate and magnify the sample for capture by the phone’s camera. “The lenses align with the phone’s camera,” Shafiee said. The app records a short video of the sperm as they move around inside the chip and uses an algorithm to measure the total number of sperm, to track their movement (motility) and then to calculate the total numbers that are moving.

The test is expected to be available to consumers within a few years. Also, you’re a total third grader for snickering at my headline.