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NCT03085433: SPERM

Sperm Selection by Microfluidic Separation Improves Embryo Quality

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 31 December 2025
What this trial tests

NA trial testing Microfluidic Sperm Sorting in Sperm DNA Fragmentation in 393 participants. Completed in 30 April 2022.

Timeline
20 June 2017
Primary endpoint
30 October 2021
30 April 2022

Quick facts

Lead sponsorUniversity of California, San Francisco
PhaseNA
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationrandomized
Designparallel
Maskingquadruple
Primary purposetreatment
Enrollment393
Start date20 June 2017
Primary completion30 October 2021
Estimated completion30 April 2022
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Who can join

Adults 18 to 65, any sex, with Sperm DNA Fragmentation or Embryo Quality. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Day 3 High Quality Embryo Percentage Primary · 3 days following fertilization

The primary outcome for intent to treat analysis. Day 3 high quality embryo percentage rate will be defined as the percentage of all viable 2PN embryos on day 3 with at least 6 cells and fragmentation/symmetry scores of 1-2. Scale: 1-6 for either fragmentation or symmetry. Lower scores are better. Calculated as ( the number of high-qualify-grade embryos yielded by a participant / the number of all viable 2PN embryos yielded by the participant x 100)

GroupValue95% CI
Microfluidic Sperm Sorting68± 30.3
Conventional Sperm Preparation66± 25.8
Egg Fertilization Rate Secondary · 1 day following fertilization

Number of eggs successfully fertilized (2PN embryo count) per number of mature eggs (MII egg count) retrieved per participant. 2PN grade indicates a successfully fertilized embryo. MII grade indicates a metaphase II stage egg which is mature enough to undergo fertilization. (The percentage is calculated for each participant as the number of 2PN embryos obtained / the number of MII eggs obtained x100). The resulting percentages were then averaged to determine the average fertilization rate for participants in each study arm.

GroupValue95% CI
Microfluidic Sperm Sorting75.2± 17.8
Conventional Sperm Preparation79.4± 19.4
Pregnancy Rate Secondary · 14 days following embryo transfer

Pregnancy rate will be defined as achieving a clinical pregnancy ( an ultrasound demonstrating gestational sac with yolk sac) per embryo transfer procedure attempt.

GroupValue95% CI
Microfluidic Sperm Sorting82
Conventional Sperm Preparation78

Sponsor's own description

This is a randomized controlled trial of couples with a history of poor embryo quality undergoing a repeat in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle for unexplained infertility. Couples will be randomized to sperm selection by the clinical standard of centrifugation and density-gradient processing compared to the microfluidic sperm sorting chip.

Publications & conference data

3 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

  1. Advanced sperm selection techniques for assisted reproduction.
    Lepine S, McDowell S, Searle LM, Kroon B, et al · · 2019 · cited 44× · PMID 31425620 · DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd010461.pub3
  2. Microfluidic preparation of spermatozoa for ICSI produces similar embryo quality to density-gradient centrifugation: a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.
    Quinn MM, Ribeiro S, Juarez-Hernandez F, Simbulan RK, et al · · 2022 · cited 12× · PMID 35522187 · DOI 10.1093/humrep/deac099
  3. Microfluidics for in vitro fertilization: from science to clinical validation.
    Pensabene V, Agate F, Santos Miranda A, Picton HM. · · 2026 · PMID 41349964 · DOI 10.1093/humupd/dmaf028

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Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03085433.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing