Evaluation of a disposable plastic Neubauer counting chamber for semen analysis

Objective

To evaluate whether disposable plastic counting chambers effectively could replace nondisposable, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous glass hemocytometers.

Design

Evaluation of equipment in modern laboratory andrology. Comparison of results obtained with plastic chambers with results obtained with “gold-standard” glass hemocytometer counts.

Setting

Diagnostic laboratory for andrology.

Patient(s)

Twenty-one patients undergoing investigation for infertility problems.

Intervention(s)

No interventions with patients; sperm in diluted semen samples were used when patients had allowed the use for research and training.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Sperm concentration, difference from results obtained with standard equipment.

Result(s)

In the first three experimental series, with use of standard routine phase-contrast microscopy, significantly lower count results were obtained consistently from the plastic chambers than from standard chambers. In the fourth series, with use of specialized equipment, equivalent results were obtained but with a considerably greater time commitment because of difficulties in distinguishing sperm adjacent to the gridlines in the plastic chambers.

Conclusion(s)

The plastic disposable chamber type was not suitable for routine semen analysis because results are variable depending on the microscope used, and increased time is necessary to do the assessment accurately.

Key Words: Sperm concentration assessment, semen analysis, quality control, standardization, improved Neubauer hemocytometer