AUTOMATION OF HUMAN SPERM CELL ANALYSIS BY FLOW-CYTOMETRY

Semen sample analysis is routinely performed by microscopical evaluati on and manual techniques by laboratory operators; the analysis is affe cted by a wide imprecision related to variability among observers, inf luencing its clinical validity. Our aim was to automate sperm analysis with the use of flow cytometry for evaluation of cell counts and typi ng and with the use of a new membrane-permeant nucleic acid stain for evaluation of sperm viability. Statistical analysis of the comparison between manual and automated methods for sperm counts was performed by the Bland and Altman method; the mean difference was 0.243 x 10(6) sp erms/mL. The precision of the flow cytometric analysis was evaluated w ith whole sperm; the between-run CV was 7.5% and the within-run CV was 2.5%. Data observed Suggest that flow cytometric sperm analysis, with high precision and accuracy and low costs, can be proposed for routin e use in clinical laboratories.