The standard approach to semen sample collection by fertility clinics for uses such as fertility analysis, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) involves a private collection room adjacent to the laboratory. This practice is in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations , meant to reduce the chances of negative external influences on semen quality (i.e., temperature changes and length of time, both thought to be potentially detrimental to sperm quality, between collection and processing ).
According to the WHO manual on semen sample collection, semen can be collected at home when the patient has difficulty providing a sample via masturbation at the clinic or when there is no appropriate venue for semen collection near the laboratory. These circumstances are not uncommon since a considerable portion of men are uncomfortable masturbating at unusual locations, and since a significant portion of the population resides in rural or underdeveloped areas without access to state of the art medical facilities. Home collection within an hour of processing for diagnostic semen analyses is noted in the WHO manual to be an acceptable alternative in “exceptional” cases . In the COVID-19 era, this approach has gained wide appeal.
When semen samples are collected at home, precautions must be taken in order to guarantee the viability of the samples once they reach the clinic. Fertility clinics use a process of cryopreservation to store the samples for long periods of time before they are thawed for use (e.g., analyses or insemination), but freezing semen in this way requires specialized equipment and precise steps all of which is unattainable in the average household. Therefore, the temperature at which the semen is transported to the laboratory must be controlled. The WHO manual suggests that semen should be kept at temperatures of 20–37°C during transport. If semen is incubated for only 2 h at 37°C, morphological impairment of sperm nuclei can also be observed . It was shown more than 40 years ago that if any delay in semen analysis is expected, the semen should be kept at room temperature (20°C ). In addition, it was showed that if semen is kept at 4°C, then most of the spermatozoa are immotile after 6 h, although viability decreases more slowly and remains high after 18 h . At home semen collection, must also take into consideration that even short exposure of spermatozoa to seminal plasma (i.e., the fluid portion of semen) might negatively influence spermatozoa quality . Another issue is the presence of somatic cells in seminal plasma. These cells are, besides abnormal spermatozoa, the main source of reactive oxygen species (ROS ).
To accommodate the need for at home sperm collection, in the absence of freezing, companies are now offering at home sperm-banking kits for at home collection and subsequent deposition to a sample bank or a fertility clinic. Healthcare providers can discreetly mail a sperm-banking kit to a costumer’s home along with detailed instructions for collecting and returning the sample for storage. These kits count on quick overnight delivery of the sample to the freezing facility while using isolating materials to keep the sample at room temperature. This approach will preserve most of the sperm in the sample, but may be risky for men already diagnosed or potentially having a low sperm count. There are also attempts to develop at home freezing kits , although it had had been thought in the past that specialist equipment and training in cryopreservation is needed to preserve fragile sperm cells in a way that maintains their viability in future.
We intend to offer a service that combines the comfort of at home sample collection with the sample handling and preservation capabilities of state of the art fertility clinics and sperm bank. This service is best described as a “mobile semen collection facility”. This will be achieved by outfitting a large motor vehicle (e.g., van) with equipment found at medical facilities. The mobile facility will travel to the location of the client at a predetermined time to offer collection tools and immediate long term sample maintenance capabilities. Description of services
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