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Review
. 2021 Jul 19;26(14):4354.
doi: 10.3390/molecules26144354.

A Review on Microfluidics: An Aid to Assisted Reproductive Technology

Anand Baby Alias  1 , Hong-Yuan Huang  2   3 , Da-Jeng Yao  1   4
Affiliations
Review

A Review on Microfluidics: An Aid to Assisted Reproductive Technology

Anand Baby Alias et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Infertility is a state of the male or female reproductive system that is defined as the failure to achieve pregnancy even after 12 or more months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) plays a crucial role in addressing infertility. Various ART are now available for infertile couples. Fertilization in vitro (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) are the most common techniques in this regard. Various microfluidic technologies can incorporate various ART procedures such as embryo and gamete (sperm and oocyte) analysis, sorting, manipulation, culture and monitoring. Hence, this review intends to summarize the current knowledge about the application of this approach towards cell biology to enhance ART.

Keywords: assisted reproductive technology; droplet microfluidics; embryo culture; fertilization in vitro; sperm and oocyte.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A road to analogue microfluidics to digital microfluidics. Image is adapted from ref. [25] with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Different microfluidic devices for motile sperm sorting. (a) is adapted from ref. [61] with permission from Springer Nature, (b) is adapted from ref. [62] with permission from Springer Nature and (c) is adapted from ref. [63] with permission from Springer Nature and from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Various microfluidic device configurations to separate healthy oocytes. (A) is adapted from ref. [79] with permission from Springer Nature, and (B) is adapted from ref. [82] with permission from Wiley.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Different microfluidic device configurations for mouse embryo culture. (A) is adapted from ref. [89] with permission from PLoS ONE, (B) is adapted from ref. [91] with permission from John Wiley and Sons, and (C) is adapted from ref. [92] with permission from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Real time discrete droplet generation in a DMF EWOD Chip. (a) represents the placement of droplet in reservoir electrode. In (b), generation electrode was turned ON. In (c–e), transportation electrodes were turned ON and OFF as per the quantity of droplet requirement. (f) shows the generation of droplet by turn ON the reservoir electrode. This figure is adapted from ref. [106] with permission from Springer Nature.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Conceptual diagram of conventional and microfluidic IVF for assistive reproductive technology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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