Optical system and method for counting sperm cells

Claim 2

In apparatus for counting cells in a sperm solution, a chamber having rigid top and bottom walls spaced apart by a distance on the order of 15 to 50 microns, said top wall being transparent and having an opening in the central portion thereof, a body of sperm solution disposed in said chamber coaxially of said opening, said sperm solution contacting the top and bottom walls of said chamber, and a body of nonproteinaceous primer solution surrounding the body of sperm solution and forming a generally circular boundary region therewith, said primer solution also contacting the top and bottom walls of said chamber and being characterized by the property that the heads of sperm cells become sticky when in contact therewith.

Claim 3

Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said top wall is provided with a plurality of lines extending radially from said opening for visually dividing the boundary region and the region bounded thereby into a plurality of sector-shaped regions.

Claim 4

Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said chamber is formed by a first glass member having a planar upper surface with a shallow substantially flat-bottomed cavity formed therein and a second glass member having a planar lower surface engaging the upper surface of said first member around said cavity.

Claim 5

Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein said chamber is formed by first and second spaced apart glass members having substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces, respectively, and an annular side wall member extending between said upper and lower surfaces.

Claim 6

Apparatus as defined by claim 1 wherein the chamber includes an inner region having a depth on the order of 15 to 50 microns and an annular channel surrounding the central region, saiD channel being disposed coaxially of said region and in communication therewith.

Claim 7

In a method for counting sperm cells, the steps of placing a first solution in a chamber having rigid top and bottom walls spaced apart by a distance on the order of 15 to 50 microns, said solution being a non-proteinaceous solution characterized by the property that the heads of sperm cells become sticky when in contact therewith, introducing a quantity of sperm solution into the first named solution in such manner that said sperm solution is in contact with said top and bottom walls and a boundary region is formed between the two solutions, and leaving said solutions in the chamber until substantially all of the living sperm cells in the sperm solution reach said boundary region, whereupon their heads become sticky and adhere to said walls upon contacting the same.

Claim 8

In a method for counting sperm cells, the steps of placing a first solution in a chamber having rigid top and bottom walls spaced apart by a distance on the order of 15 to 50 microns, said solution being a non-proteinaceous solution characterized by the property that the heads of sperm cells become sticky when in contact therewith, introducing a quantity of sperm solution into the first named solution in such manner that said sperm solution is in contact with said top and bottom walls and a boundary region is formed between the two solutions, and leaving said solutions in the chamber until substantially all of the living sperm cells in the sperm solution reach said boundary region, whereupon their heads become sticky and adhere to said walls upon contacting the same.

Claim 9

A method as in claim 6 together with the additional step of warming the solutions in the chamber to a predetermined temperature.

Claim 10

A method as in claim 7 wherein the solutions are warmed to a temperature on the order of 37*C.

Claim 11

A method as in claim 6 wherein the sperm solution is introduced into the first solution in such manner that the boundary region formed between the solutions is substantially circular in shape.

Claim 12

A method as in claim 9 together with the additional steps of visually dividing the circular boundary region and region bounded thereby into a plurality of sectors and counting the cells in at least one of said sectors.

Claim 13

A method as in claim 6 together with the additional step of preparing the sperm solution by diluting the sperm specimen on the order of 10 to 20 times with a diluter solution.