Abstract

Sperm count assessments form the essential component of the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of male fertility, according to guidelines of WHO (1992). The problem of subjective bias, inter and intra operator variability of reporting is discussed in this paper. The problem of inter operator variability has been improved and reproducibility has been made more objective with the introduction of computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) protocols. To overcome the stated limitations and achieve objective assessment with a high precision, a new technique called flow cytometry was developed. Different methods for the estimation of sperm concentrations like hemocytometry, spectrophotometry, microcells, plate reader, image analysis and finally flow cytometry are compared and contrasted. Their relative merits and demerits are discussed with a detailed review of literature. Methods for estimation of sperm concentration are discussed in this paper.

Key words: Sperm counts, semen analysis, flow cytometry.