s significantly higher in microchannels (27 percent) than in culture dishes (10 percent).
The authors note that the research has only been conducted on mice, and that more testing and possibly the development of auxiliary technology will be needed before IVF by microfluidics is a viable option for humans.
Still, the research is very promising, says lead author Ronald S. Suh, M.D., now with Urology of Indiana LLC in Indianapolis who was a resident in the U-M Department of Urology when he wrote the paper.
"There has been a large amount of research on almost every aspect of IVF. The exciting thing we're seeing here is going the potential of integration of all of these things. In the future, you will be able to take patients with low sperm counts, use microfluidics to select the best sperm, and achieve fertilization in one step," he says. "That integration is really what is going to make microfluidics change IVF."
In addition to Smith and Suh, other authors of the paper are Dana A. Ohl, M.D., professor of urology at the U-M Medical School; Shuichi Takayama, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering and of macromolecular science and engineering at the U-M College of Engineering; Xiaoyue Zhu, research fellow in biomedical engineering; and Nandita Phadke, research assistant in biomedical engineering.
Portions of the research were supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the College of Engineering Technology Development Fund.
U-M has applied for patents on the microfluidic technology involved in this study. Smith and Takayama have formed a company called Incept BioSystems and stand to profit from commercialization of the products.
Source: Eurekalert & othersLast reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 21 Feb 2009
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.