SpermSearch: In a typical sample, there could only be 10 sperm along with millions of other cells – like looking for a needle in a haystack.

SpermSearch, an AI system developed by Dr. Steven Vasilescu and his team at the University of Technology Sydney, is revolutionizing the field of infertility treatment. This AI can rapidly identify viable sperm in samples taken from severely infertile men, a process that typically takes hours when done manually.

SpermSearch can achieve this in seconds by analyzing images of tissue samples. It was trained using thousands of images, making it 1,000 times faster than an experienced embryologist. It will assist men who experience a condition known as non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), affecting 10% of infertile men, where they have no sperm present in their ejaculate whatsoever. Notably, sperm counts have declined by half over the past 40 years, and infertility has become a huge problem. (BBC)

Importantly, SpermSearch is not intended to replace embryologists but to assist them in their work, as speed is crucial in the fertility treatment process.

With declining sperm counts being a concern, innovative solutions like SpermSearch offer hope for couples struggling with infertility.

While it’s in the proof-of-concept stage and still requires clinical trials, it holds promise in increasing the chances of fertilization for men with severe infertility issues.

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