This work presents a specifically designed spiral type inertial micro-fluidic channel for separat... more This work presents a specifically designed spiral type inertial micro-fluidic channel for separating non-motile sperm cell from cellular debris. Demonstration with a mixture of non-motile sperm and red blood cells showed that 82% of sperm could be focused into a separate outlet from the red blood cells.
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Microfluidic technology has the potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris commonly f... more Microfluidic technology has the potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris commonly found in clinical samples while improving the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies. In this study, we present an improved model of sperm cell behavior in curved channels based on both 2D COMSOL ® simulations and experimental studies. The 2D COMSOL ® simulation results show alignment of the sperm like particles, which suggests that sperm should be treated as small, relatively stationary particles rather than larger rotating particles. This understanding helps us generate more precise sperm separations for µTESE samples by enabling the assumption of a small particle rather than a large one. This alignment was also confirmed by observing the alignment angle of all recognizable sperm cells with high-speed imaging near the outlet area of the spiral channel. A series of experiments with sperm cells and microbeads showed clear separation improvement between the new experimental conditions and previous efforts. Sperm were found to behave more similarly to 3 µm beads than to 5 µm beads and that sperm cells may act like particles even smaller than the 3-µm beads. The focused sperm cell stream appeared in the middle area of the channel and the focused RBCs stream appeared at the mid-inner wall area of the channel. Basic biocompatibility testing also suggests that the approach can be used safely in a clinical setting.
Microfluidic technology has potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris while improvin... more Microfluidic technology has potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris while improving the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Current clinical protocol limitations regarding the separation of sperm cells from other cells/cellular debris can lead to low sperm recovery when the sample contains a low concentration of mostly low motility sperm cells and a high concentration of unwanted cells/cellular debris, such as in semen samples from patients with pyospermia [high white blood cell (WBC) semen]. This study demonstrates label-free separation of sperm cells from such semen samples using inertial microfluidics. The approach does not require any externally applied forces except the movement of the fluid sample through the instrument. Using this approach, it was possible to recover not only any motile sperm, but also viable less-motile and non-motile sperm cells with high recovery rates. Our results demonstrate the ability of inertial microfluidics to s...
Systems biology in reproductive medicine, Jan 22, 2016
Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a severe form of infertility accounting for 10% of infertile... more Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a severe form of infertility accounting for 10% of infertile men. Microdissection testicular sperm extraction (microTESE) includes a set of clinical protocols from which viable sperm are collected from patients (suffering from NOA), for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Clinical protocols associated with the processing of a microTESE sample are inefficient and significantly reduce the success of obtaining a viable sperm population. In this review we highlight the sources of these inefficiencies and how these sources can possibly be removed by microfluidic technology and single-cell Raman spectroscopy.
Inertial microfluidics are used to continuously separate non-motile sperm from blood and other co... more Inertial microfluidics are used to continuously separate non-motile sperm from blood and other contaminants.
This work presents a specifically designed spiral type inertial micro-fluidic channel for separat... more This work presents a specifically designed spiral type inertial micro-fluidic channel for separating non-motile sperm cell from cellular debris. Demonstration with a mixture of non-motile sperm and red blood cells showed that 82% of sperm could be focused into a separate outlet from the red blood cells.
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Microfluidic technology has the potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris commonly f... more Microfluidic technology has the potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris commonly found in clinical samples while improving the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies. In this study, we present an improved model of sperm cell behavior in curved channels based on both 2D COMSOL ® simulations and experimental studies. The 2D COMSOL ® simulation results show alignment of the sperm like particles, which suggests that sperm should be treated as small, relatively stationary particles rather than larger rotating particles. This understanding helps us generate more precise sperm separations for µTESE samples by enabling the assumption of a small particle rather than a large one. This alignment was also confirmed by observing the alignment angle of all recognizable sperm cells with high-speed imaging near the outlet area of the spiral channel. A series of experiments with sperm cells and microbeads showed clear separation improvement between the new experimental conditions and previous efforts. Sperm were found to behave more similarly to 3 µm beads than to 5 µm beads and that sperm cells may act like particles even smaller than the 3-µm beads. The focused sperm cell stream appeared in the middle area of the channel and the focused RBCs stream appeared at the mid-inner wall area of the channel. Basic biocompatibility testing also suggests that the approach can be used safely in a clinical setting.
Microfluidic technology has potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris while improvin... more Microfluidic technology has potential to separate sperm cells from unwanted debris while improving the effectiveness of assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Current clinical protocol limitations regarding the separation of sperm cells from other cells/cellular debris can lead to low sperm recovery when the sample contains a low concentration of mostly low motility sperm cells and a high concentration of unwanted cells/cellular debris, such as in semen samples from patients with pyospermia [high white blood cell (WBC) semen]. This study demonstrates label-free separation of sperm cells from such semen samples using inertial microfluidics. The approach does not require any externally applied forces except the movement of the fluid sample through the instrument. Using this approach, it was possible to recover not only any motile sperm, but also viable less-motile and non-motile sperm cells with high recovery rates. Our results demonstrate the ability of inertial microfluidics to s...
Systems biology in reproductive medicine, Jan 22, 2016
Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a severe form of infertility accounting for 10% of infertile... more Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is a severe form of infertility accounting for 10% of infertile men. Microdissection testicular sperm extraction (microTESE) includes a set of clinical protocols from which viable sperm are collected from patients (suffering from NOA), for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Clinical protocols associated with the processing of a microTESE sample are inefficient and significantly reduce the success of obtaining a viable sperm population. In this review we highlight the sources of these inefficiencies and how these sources can possibly be removed by microfluidic technology and single-cell Raman spectroscopy.
Inertial microfluidics are used to continuously separate non-motile sperm from blood and other co... more Inertial microfluidics are used to continuously separate non-motile sperm from blood and other contaminants.
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Papers by Jiyoung Son