Microscope Overlay Imaging for Consistent Sperm Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The success rate of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) varies significantly due to the reliance on embryologist experience for sperm sorting, leading to inconsistent fertilization rates.
Innovation Solution
A microscope system with an imaging device and processing unit that generates a larger-sized target image of sperm quality, allowing for accurate and efficient sperm sorting by displaying both optical and target images on the same plane, facilitating simultaneous observation of morphology and motility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sperm sorting is performed based on embryologist experience, then the process can be carried out with simple equipment, but the fertilization rate varies significantly between operators
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual image that copies and enlarges the sperm morphology features, allowing the embryologist to observe detailed morphological characteristics without changing the original observation system. This virtual copy provides consistent measurement criteria that reduce variability between operators while maintaining the simplicity of the original microscope setup.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary virtual image between the actual sperm sample and the embryologist's observation. This virtual image serves as a mediator that enhances morphological features consistently, providing a standardized reference that reduces operator-dependent variability in sperm quality assessment.
2Measurement precision
If the sperm sample is observed at high magnification to assess morphology, then sorting accuracy improves, but the field of view decreases making it difficult to locate and evaluate multiple sperm
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a virtual image dimension that overlays morphological information onto the existing optical field of view. This creates an additional information layer without physically increasing magnification, allowing simultaneous observation of multiple sperm in the original field of view while accessing detailed morphological features through the virtual image dimension.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the virtual morphological image with the real optical image into a single composite view. This combination allows the embryologist to simultaneously see both the actual sperm positions and movements in the optical field and the detailed morphological features in the virtual image, eliminating the need to switch between different magnification levels.
3Productivity
If multiple sperm are evaluated simultaneously to improve sorting efficiency, then productivity increases, but the ability to assess detailed morphology of each sperm decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual image acts as a copy that preserves and enlarges morphological details of multiple sperm simultaneously. Each sperm in the field of view generates a corresponding virtual image with enhanced morphological features, allowing the embryologist to assess multiple sperm at once without sacrificing individual detail evaluation capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A microscope system includes: a microscope that forms an optical image of a sample containing a sorting target; an imaging device that acquires a digital image of the sample; a processing device that generates a target image as an image of the sorting target, based on object detection to the digital image; and a projection device that displays the target image larger in size than the sorting target in the optical image, on an image plane on which the optical image is formed.