Study on Human Spermatozoal Motility: Preliminary Report on Newly Developed Multiple Exposure Photography Method

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Abstract
A multiple exposure photography (MEP) method for objectively evaluating the spermatozoal motility was developed. The semen specimen placed in a 10-.mu.m chamber was photographed through the phase-contrast microscope. Light pulses were generated with the aid of a multipulser using a Xe-stroboscope (pulse interval: 160 ms, exposure: 1 s). In the photomicrographs, motile spermatozoa produced images of 6-ringed chains, while nonmotile spermatozoa appeared as brighter images, which clearly visualized spermatozoa from the head to the tail. When 30 semen specimens from fertile males were analyzed 1 h after their collection, the mean spermatozoal concentration was 79 .times. 106 per ml the mean rate of motile spermatozoa 39.7% and the mean spermatozoal velocity 29.3 .mu.m per s. the rate of motile spermatozoa estimated by the MEP method (39.7%) was lower than that estimated by the direct observation method (60% or more) by .apprx. 20%. The MEP method enables concurrent accurate estimation of the spermatozoal concentration, the rate of motile spermatozoa and the velocity of individual spermatozoa.