Reproducibility of computer-aided semen analysis: comparison of five different systems used in a practical workshop

Holt, William W; Watson, P. F.; Curry, Mark R.; Holt, Clare

doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(16)57201-x

Cited by 69 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…However, CASA instruments are not 'ready-to-use' robots, and the reliability of their results depends largely on the expertise and training of the user (Holt et al 1994). Unfortunately, this technology is still accepted uncritically by many of its users, reducing the feasibility of the results obtained (Kraemer et al 1998).…”

Section: Era Of Casa Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

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CASA-Mot technology: how results are affected by the frame rate and counting chamber

Bompart

García‐Molina

Valverde

et al. 2018

Reprod. Fertil. Dev.

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For over 30 years, CASA-Mot technology has been used for kinematic analysis of sperm motility in different mammalian species, but insufficient attention has been paid to the technical limitations of commercial computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA) systems. Counting chamber type and frame rate are two of the most important aspects to be taken into account. Counting chambers can be disposable or reusable, with different depths. In human semen analysis, reusable chambers with a depth of 10µm are the most frequently used, whereas for most farm animal species it is more common to use disposable chambers with a depth of 20µm . The frame rate was previously limited by the hardware, although changes in the number of images collected could lead to significant variations in some kinematic parameters, mainly in curvilinear velocity (VCL). A frame rate of 60 frames s-1 is widely considered to be the minimum necessary for satisfactory results. However, the frame rate is species specific and must be defined in each experimental condition. In conclusion, we show that the optimal combination of frame rate and counting chamber type and depth should be defined for each species and experimental condition in order to obtain reliable results.

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Section: Era Of Casa Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following on from this, the final results could be affected by two different sources: (1) hardware and computational variations between systems; and (2) non-computational issues, such as specimen preparation and microscopic technique (Holt et al 1994). One of the non-computational variables is related to sampling.…”

Section: Era Of Casa Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

CASA-Mot technology: how results are affected by the frame rate and counting chamber

Bompart

García‐Molina

Valverde

et al. 2018

Reprod. Fertil. Dev.

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“…This work presents the first version of an open-source computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA) system named OpenCASA. Commercial CASA systems are costly, present low flexibility in order to modify some features, and most of them deal with motility uniquely [1,2,18,31,32] To date, different plugins for free image analysis programs, such as the image-J, allowed to perform, separately, the analysis of one parameter, such as motility or morphometry [17,30]. OpenCASA allows, using a single software structured in four different modules, to analyze motility, viability, morphology and the sperm response of guidance mechanism.…”

Section: Availability and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the validation of the motility, morphometry and viability modules, we have compared our OpenCASA with specific analysis systems, commercial or not (ISAS, CASMA-F or flow cytometry). As a future work it would be interesting to make a comparison between the results provided by Open CASA and other different analysis systems to see the degree of adjustment between them [1,2,18,31,32].…”

Section: Availability and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

OpenCASA: A new open-source and scalable tool for sperm quality analysis

et al. 2019

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In the field of assisted reproductive techniques (ART), computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) systems have proved their utility and potential for assessing sperm quality, improving the prediction of the fertility potential of a seminal dose. Although most laboratories and scientific centers use commercial systems, in the recent years certain free and open-source alternatives have emerged that can reduce the costs that research groups have to face. However, these open-source alternatives cannot analyze sperm kinetic responses to different stimuli, such as chemotaxis, thermotaxis or rheotaxis. In addition, the programs released to date have not usually been designed to encourage the scalability and the continuity of software development. We have developed an open-source CASA software, called OpenCASA, which allows users to study three classical sperm quality parameters: motility, morphometry and membrane integrity (viability) and offers the possibility of analyzing the guided movement response of spermatozoa to different stimuli (useful for chemotaxis, thermotaxis or rheotaxis studies) or different motile cells such as bacteria, using a single software. This software has been released in a Version Control System at Github. This platform will allow researchers not only to download the software but also to be involved in and contribute to further developments. Additionally, a Google group has been created to allow the research community to interact and discuss OpenCASA. For validation of the OpenCASA software, we analysed different simulated sperm populations (for chemotaxis module) and evaluated 36 ejaculates obtained from 12 fertile rams using other sperm analysis systems (for motility, membrane integrity and morphology modules). The results were compared with those obtained by Open-CASA using the Pearson’s correlation and Bland-Altman tests, obtaining a high level of correlation in all parameters and a good agreement between the different used methods and the OpenCASA. With this work, we propose an open-source project oriented to the development of a new software application for sperm quality analysis. This proposed software will use a minimally centralized infrastructure to allow the continued development of its modules by the research community.

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“…On the other hand, it has been recognized that among commercial software disadvantages, one can mainly list high cost, need to regularly upgrade and dramatic changes influenced by different settings that are not well documented in publications (Schleh & Leoni 2013). Even when each lab standardizes its own conditions, the setup of the parameters is crucial to allow comparisons between different studies and to obtain reproducibility as well as consistency of internal and external controls (Holt et al 1994, Fraser 1998). Since there are many factors affecting CASA performance (Broekhuijse et al 2011), the methodologies and system specificities (equipment, chamber, plate temperature and acquisitions details) have to be fully and clearly described (Verstegen et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objective evaluation of ram and buck sperm motility by using a novel sperm tracker software

Zalazar

Pastore²,

Greco

et al. 2018

Reproduction

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This work offers researchers the first version of an open-source sperm tracker software (Sperm Motility Tracker, V1.0) containing a novel suit of algorithms to analyze sperm motility using ram and buck sperm as models. The computer-assisted semen analysis is used in several publications with increasing trend worldwide in the last years, showing the importance of objective methodologies to evaluate semen quality. However, commercial systems are costly and versatility is constrained. In the proposed method, segmentation is applied and the tracking stage is performed by using individual Kalman filters and a simplified occlusion handling method. The tracking performance in terms of precision (number of true tracks), the percentage of fragmented paths and percentage of correctly detected particles were manually validated by three experts and compared with the performance of a commercial motility analyzer (Microptic's SCA). The precision obtained with our sperm motility tracker was higher than the one obtained with a commercial software at the current acquisition frame rate of 25 fps ( < 0.0001), concomitantly with a similar percentage of fragmentized tracks ( = 0.0709) at sperm concentrations ranging 25-37 × 10 cells/mL. Moreover, our tracker was able to detect trajectories that were unseen by SCA. Kinetic values obtained by using both methods were contrasted. The higher values found were explained based on the better performance of our sperm tracker to report speed parameters for very fast motile sperm. To standardize results, acquisition conditions are suggested. This open-source sperm tracker software has a good plasticity allowing researchers to upgrade according requirements and to apply the tool for sperm from a variety of species.

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Reproducibility of computer-aided semen analysis: comparison of five different systems used in a practical workshop

Cited by 69 publications

References 5 publications

CASA-Mot technology: how results are affected by the frame rate and counting chamber

CASA-Mot technology: how results are affected by the frame rate and counting chamber

OpenCASA: A new open-source and scalable tool for sperm quality analysis

Objective evaluation of ram and buck sperm motility by using a novel sperm tracker software

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