DEVELOPMENT OF AN OBJECTIVE, SEMIAUTOMATED METHOD FOR ASSESSMENT OF SPERM MOTILITY

Study of sperm motility is associated to the development of precise an d economical systems of evaluation. The purpose of this work was to de velop an Objective Semi-Automated Method (MOSA) to evaluate the sperm motility. Human semen samples were registered by video-microscopy. The same videofilms were analysed with the MOSA, the subjective method an d the automated CellSoft(R) method. The percentages of motile and immo tile sperms were equivalent with the three methods. The percentages of rapidly and slowly motile sperms were similar both with the MOSA and the subjective method. The curvilinear and linear velocities as well a s the linearity values obtained with the MOSA were different to those obtained with the CellSoft(R), although such differences would be biol ogically acceptable. MOSA is an inexpensive, objective and precise met hod that does not require trained technicians and allows evaluation of several parameters of sperm motility.