QualiSperm™ for humans
The QualiSperm™ solution is a so-called computer assisted semen (CASA) system, i.e. all important clinical parameters such as concentration, motility, and morphology are acquired using a standard upright microscope equipped with an advanced but robust and cost-efficient digital camera enabling the precise acquisition and storage of digital images of sperms in a sequence. These digitally acquired images are then in turn processed using our advanced image recognition algorithm in order to accurately determine concentration, motility, and morphology.
The idea of developing CASA systems is not new and the transfer from manual sperm analysis to automated CASA assessment has encountered many hurdles. The main challenges for earlier CASA systems has been mainly related to poor accuracy of clinical parameters combined with too complicated software solutions leading to a slow assessment with low reproducibility.
The QualiSperm™ provides a novel solution to an old problem:
- Advanced robust, reliable, and top quality system components
- A state-of-the-art image recognition algorithm for accurate and reproducible measurements
- A software solution where the main objective has been to facilitate and increase the speed of acquisition in order to provide the user with the best possible data quality
QualiSperm™ is a automated easy-to-use CASA system based on a high-quality upright microscope providing the most important parameters such as concentration, motility, and morphology (under development).
The QualiSperm™ system uses a proprietary semen analysis algorithm based on a fundamentally new technology rendering very accurate and reproducible results clearly outperforming the current computerized semen analysis systems on the market.
We included a Digital Sperm Washing (DSW) algorithm in order to improve discrimination between sperms and other objects in the image. This feature leads to a significant reduction in acquisition time since time-consuming post-processing of images is omitted.
Concentration Measurement
 Leaflet: Concentration, Motility and Droplets
The QualiSperm™ software allows for fast and accurate determination of the sperm concentration. Additional to total sperm concentration also the percentage of sperms of a given motility class (see Motility section for more information) is determined. An advantage of the system is that we are using a larger field of view than most competitors which leads to a faster analysis since more sperms per unit area can be determined. This feature together with our advanced image recognition algorithm enables the QualiSperm™ software to capture over 1000 sperms in one image. To further increase accuracy up to 9 different individual fields can be acquired.
 Screenshot of the QualiSperm™ software showing the graphical user interface for entry of data such as donor information, type of slide, collection date.
Screenshot of the image acquisition window where image brightness is set completely automatically leading to increased reproducibility. Up to 9 individual positions can be chosen to improve measurement accuracy. Almost all steps from entering donor data to image acquisition can be done by a single-key procedure for increased user simplicity.
Motility Measurement
 2 minutes video: Motility measurement with QualiSperm (boar sample)
Leaflet: Concentration, Motility and Droplets
Another solution of QualiSperm™ profiting significantly from our advanced image recognition algorithm is our Motility module. In most cases trajectory analysis using the velocity averaged path (VAP) definition is performed in order to obtain accurate assessment of overall sperm velocity as well as fractions of sperms within the four WHO defined speed classes.
Results window after performed assessment of concentration and motility showing a typical sperm analysis using two different positions either as average values or graphically in a bar plot indicating the four WHO speed classes.
Morphology Measurement
2 minutes video: Morphology measurement with QualiSperm (human sample)
Leaflet: Morphology
Morphological sperm assessment using the QualispermTM software. Papanicolaou stained sperms imaged with a 100x high resolution objective indicating normal (outlined in green) and abnormal (outlined in red) sperms. Also the morphology module has been developed with ease-of-use as the main criterion.
System components
Compatible microscopes
We have carefully selected a range of compatible upright microscopes for their excellent optical properties and their support for increased customer flexibility:
- Leica (DM 1000, DM 2000, DM 3000)
- Nikon (Eclipse 50i, E200)
- Olympus (CX-41, BX-41)
- Zeiss (Primo Star, Axio Lab, Axio Examiner)
Camera
We equip our systems with a ½” CMOS detector with excellent sensitivity IDS uEYE UI-1545LE
Heating stage
QualiSperm™ Human is delivered with a electronically controlled heating stage which allows heating up to 45°C. The slide holder we specially developed for easy entry of all types of glass slides used in the clinical environment.
QualiSperm™ Human is combined with a very accurate heating stage from Tokai-Hit. The main advantage of this heating stage is that the entire surface of the slide is heated as compared to many other comparable solutions. Thus, the whole sample is perfectly evenly thermostated in order to minimize any temperature gradients in the sample.
Leaflet: System Components for QualiSperm for Human
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