Design Optimization for Enhancing Rheotaxis Zones in Microfluidic Sperm Separation

Microfluidic techniques are widely utilized to enhance the efficiency of motile sperm separation, which contributes to male infertility treatments. By leveraging inherent sperm motion and optimizing microfluidic chip geometry, passive microfluidic methods can effectively segregate motile from immotile sperm without compromising DNA integrity. In this study, a novel passive microfluidic chip was designed, featuring parallel outlets with arrays and reduced width to activate the boundary-following behavior. A parametric simulation was conducted using COMSOL Multiphysics V۶.۱ to assess its compatibility with sperm motility characteristics. Six different angles, ranging from ۲۵∘ to ۶۵∘, were tested to study the effect of geometric parameters on the rheotaxis zone. Overall, the findings demonstrated that the maximum length of rheotaxis zone was achieved when the chip’s arrays were placed with ۳۵∘. Moreover, the particle tracking analysis showed that motile sperm can penetrate the buffer flow, while immotile sperm and larger particles, such as debris, cannot cross concentration gradients and remain unaffected by diffusiophoresis.

کلیدواژه ها:

Microfluidic chip ، Sperm separation ، Rheotaxis ، Infertility