A microfluidic method for passive trapping of sperms in microstructures
Abstract
Sperm motility is a prerequisite for male fertility. Enhancing the concentration of motile sperms in assisted reproductive technologies - for human and animal reproduction - is typically achieved through aggressive methods such as centrifugation. Here we propose a passive technique for the amplification of motile sperm concentration, with no externally imposed forces or flows. The technique is based upon the disparity between probability rates, for motile cells, of entering in and escaping from complex structures. The effectiveness of the technique is demonstrated in microfluidic experiments with microstructured devices, comparing the trapping power in different geometries. In these micro-traps we observe an enhancement of cells concentration close to 10, with a contrast between motile and non-motile increased by a similar factor. Simulations of suitable interacting model sperms in realistic geometries reproduce quantitatively the experimental results, extend the range of observations and highlight the ingredients that are key to optimal trap design.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2208.14098,
title = {A microfluidic method for passive trapping of sperms in microstructures},
author = {Binita Nath and Lorenzo Caprini and Claudio Maggi and Alessandra Zizzari and Valentina Arima and Ilenia Viola and Roberto Di Leonardo and Andrea Puglisi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.14098},
year = {2022}
}