Microfluidic system based on the digital holography microscope for analysis of motile sperm

Year: 2009

Authors: Di Caprio G., Coppola G., Grilli S., Ferraro P., Puglisi R., Balduzzi D., Galli A.

Autors Affiliation: CNR – Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi, Università degli Studi di napoli 2Federico II”, Italy; CNR – Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Via Campi Flegrei 34, 80078 Pozzuoli (NA) Italy;
Istituto Sperimentale Italiano Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italy

Abstract: Digital holography (DH) has been employed in the retrieval of three dimensional images of bull’s sperm heads. The system allows a three dimensional analysis of the sperm morphology by means of a Digital Holographic Microscope (DHM). Microscopic holography measurements are performed by projecting a magnified image of a microscopic hologram plane onto a CCD plane. This could constitute the basis of an alternative method for the zoothecnic industry aimed at the investigation of morphological features and the sorting of the motile sperm cells. Indeed, one of the main advantages of digital holography consists in its full non-invasivity and in the capability of investigating the shape of the sperm cells without altering their characteristics. In particular the proposed technique could be applied to investigate the frequency of aberrant spermatozoa. Until now, in fact, such industrial investigations have been mainly performed by means of specific painting probes: unfortunately this technique dramatically reduces the vitality of the sperm cells and can even cause chromosome aberration, making them useless for the zootechnical applications.

Journal/Review: PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE

Volume: 7389      Pages from: 738907-1  to: 738907-9

KeyWords: digital holography