Application of computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) for detecting sperm-immobilizing antibody.

Problem: Since the 1970s, anti-sperm antibodies have been studied as a pathogenic factor contributing to infertility. The complement-dependent sperm-immobilization test (SIT) and quantitative SIT have been used as effective tools for detecting anti-sperm antibodies in clinical settings. These tests have been carried out traditionally by manually counting the number of motile sperm through eye estimation.
Method of Study: In this study, we developed a novel method using computer-aided sperm analysis. The results were compared with those obtained by the traditional method.
Results: The results were identical and 25 of 78 samples tested were positive and 53 samples were negative for sperm-immobilizing (SI) antibodies based on both methods. For SI-positive samples, the values of SI ₅₀ obtained using the two methods correlated closely with high co-efficiency.
Conclusion: Using the novel method, manually counting the number of motile spermatozoa becomes unnecessary. The novel method presented here will increase the objectivity and convenience of using the SIT as a clinical indicator.
(© 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)