An integrated AI-microfluidic platform reveals the broad persistence and developmental potential of rare sperm in non-obstructive azoospermia

Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is the most severe form of male infertility, significantly reducing chances of biological fatherhood. Scientists developed SpermSeek, an integrated AI-microfluidic platform capable of isolating individual sperm directly from semen in real-time without damage. The system achieves 98.3% detection precision and 95.5% encapsulation efficiency. In a cohort of 59 NOA patients, the platform detected morphologically identifiable sperm in 64.4% of cases, including those with severe genetic disorders. Among 41 patients who were sperm-negative despite previous interventions, the platform found sperm in 53.7% of cases. Sperm preserved by this method retain high DNA integrity and epigenomic concordance (r=0.98). In a validation cohort of 26 patients, rare sperm obtained by the platform demonstrated the ability to support early human embryogenesis with high-quality embryos.