Whilst the field of Andrology is constantly developing, we have selected some useful articles that are relevant to considering your choice of consumables, working practices and quality control mechanisms. If you are looking for more support with these kinds of questions, I would recommend taking a look at the Andrology Consultancy page on our site.
Full WHO Andrology Laboratory Manual
"The sixth edition of the WHO Manual for the Laboratory Examination and Processing of Human Semen is a reference document for procedures and methods for the laboratory examination and processing of human semen, which are intended to maintain and sustain the quality of analysis and the comparability of results from different laboratories."
Toxicity Testing
"This is a guideline aimed at health care scientists who deal with andrology in both general pathology and specialised fertility laboratories, and provides a model approach to sperm toxicity testing. For assisted reproduction clinics, the same methodology can be used to test any consumables that are used for sperm processing, and as an indirect guide for any consumables that come into direct contact with oocytes and pre-implantation embryos."
"The human sperm motility assay was used as a measure of quality control in the IVF laboratory. The effects of albumin supplementation and incubation time on the sensitivity of the human sperm motility assay were investigated. The assay was also compared with mouse embryo development. The human sperm motility assay and mouse embryo development assays were performed on 25 items commonly used in IVF laboratories."
Computer Aided Semen Analysis
"This article is written to determine the accuracy and precision of a novel computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system by comparison with existing recommended manual methods. This is done by using comparative measurements of sperm concentration and motility on latex beads and immotile and motile sperm."
"This article suggests that diagnostic semen analysis has no more clinical value today than it had 25–30 years ago, and both the confusion surrounding its evidence base (in terms of relationship with conception) and the low level of confidence in the clinical setting is attributable to an associated high level of ‘uncertainty’. Consideration of the concept of measurement uncertainty is mandatory for medical laboratories applying for the ISO15189 standard."
A comparison of Makler counting chamber and improved Neubauer hemocytometer in sperm concentration measurement.
N Sukcharoen et al
"Evaluation of male fertility is based predominantly on results from semen analysis and determination of the sperm concentration is one of the main parameters of the analysis. Overall, Makler chamber counts were 11.2 per cent higher. Although less complicated than the improved Neubauer hemocytometer method, measurement of sperm concentration by Makler counting chamber is an inaccurate method."
