An artificial intelligence algorithm scanned 25 lakh images of a semen sample for over two hours to identify two viable sperm cells, enabling a couple to conceive after 19 years, according to an article published in The Lancet journal.
The couple, a 39-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman in the US, had undergone multiple in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles, procedures that involved a manual searching for sperm and two surgical procedures to extract sperm.
“A semen sample can appear totally normal, but when you look under the microscope you discover just a sea of cellular debris, with no sperm visible,” senior author Zev Williams, director of the Columbia University Fertility Center, said.
“Many couples with male-factor infertility are told they have little chance of having a biological child,” Williams added.
Men with azoospermia — whose ejaculate contains little or no sperm — may undergo a surgical procedure to have sperm extracted from the testes.
However, it is often unsuccessful and can cause vascular problems, inflammation, or a temporary decrease in testosterone levels, the researchers said.
The team developed a method — named `Sperm Tracking and Recovery` (STAR) — that takes help of AI for a “high-speed, real-time identification and isolation of rare sperm in semen samples previously classified as azoospermic”.
High-powered imaging technology is employed to scan through a semen sample, taking over eight million images in under an hour, they said in the correspondence article.
AI helps identify sperm cells in the sample, and a chip with tiny, hair-like channels separates the portion of the sample containing a sperm cell — a robot then extracts the sperm cell which can be used to create an embryo or frozen and stored for future use, the team said.
They added that despite being based on one instance, the findings show how the STAR method is feasible in overcoming long-standing barriers in helping men with azoospermia.
“A 3.5-millilitre ejaculated semen sample was gently washed, suspended in 800-microlitre semen analysis buffer, and processed using the STAR system. Manual slide-based examination revealed no sperm,” the authors wrote.
“In contrast, the STAR system analysed 2.5 million images in approximately 2 hours and detected seven sperm cells: two motile and five non-motile,” they said.
The motile sperms were injected into two mature oocytes — they go on to form egg cells — which developed into embryos.
The embryos were transferred on day three, and 13 days later, the woman had her first-ever positive pregnancy test, which progressed to a confirmed clinical pregnancy, the authors said.
At eight weeks` gestation, the patient transitioned to obstetric care, with ultrasound showing normal foetal development and a heartbeat of 172 beats per minute, they said.
Larger clinical trials are underway to evaluate the efficacy of STAR in broader patient populations, the team added.
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