Method for automated non-invasive measurement of sperm motility and morphology and automated selection of a sperm with high DNA integrity

#This application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/CA2019/050690 filed 21 May 2019 entitled “A method for automated non-invasive measurement of sperm motility and morphology and automated selection of a sperm with high DNA integrity,” which claims priority to United Kingdom Patent Application No. 1808312.1 filed 21 May 2018, and the contents of each are hereby incorporated herein in their entirety by reference for all purposes.

#The invention relates to methods for automated motility and morphology measurement of the same single motile sperm under different microscope magnifications and automated selection of sperms with normal motility and morphology.

#The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 48.5 million couples worldwide experience infertility, and many of these couples seek in vitro fertilization (IVF) for treatments. There are presently approximately 3,000 IVF clinics worldwide, with 458 clinics in the U.S. alone, and the number is growing rapidly. Measurement of sperm motility and morphology is important for IVF, with wide applications such as male infertility diagnosis and selecting the sperm for IVF treatment such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

#A detailed description of one or more embodiments is provided herein below by way of example only and with reference to the following drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of the system for automatically quantifying motility and morphology parameters of the same single motile sperm in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 illustrates an operation sequence of the method for automatically quantifying motility and morphology parameters of the same single motile sperm in accordance to one embodiment of the present invention.

#The following definitions, unless otherwise stated, apply to all aspects and embodiments of the present application. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Also, unless indicated otherwise, except within the claims, the use of “or” includes “and” and vice versa. Non-limiting terms are not to be construed as limiting unless expressly stated or the context clearly indicates otherwise (for example “including”, “having” and “comprising” typically indicate “include without limitation”). Singular forms included in the claims such as “a”, “an” and “the” include the plural reference unless expressly stated otherwise. All relevant reference, including patents, patent applications, government publications, government regulations, and academic literature are hereinafter detailed and incorporated by reference in their entireties.

#The terms “population” or “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The phrase “at least one of . . . and . . . ” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As an example, the phrase “at least one of A, B and C” includes A only, B only, C only, or any combination thereof (e.g. AB, AC, BC or ABC). The term “substantially” includes exactly the term it modifies and slight variations therefrom.

#The term “about” modifying any amount refers to the variation in that amount encountered in real world conditions of producing materials such as polymers or composite materials, e.g., in the lab, pilot plant, or production facility. For example, an amount of an ingredient employed in a mixture when modified by about includes the variation and degree of care typically employed in measuring in a plant or lab and the variation inherent in the analytical method. Whether or not modified by about, the amounts include equivalents to those amounts. Any quantity stated herein and modified by “about” can also be employed in the present invention as the amount not modified by about.