HUMAN SEMEN ANALYSIS.

Leja offers a wide range in disposable counting chambers for standard semen analysis. There are slides with 2 or 4 chambers and with chamber depths of 10 or 20 micron. The Leja slides have a standard low level of quantification which implies that even low sperm counts can be determined. The clinical implication of this is that you are well equipped to determine a threshold to choose between IUI, IVF, or ICSI for example. More and more laboratories worldwide are now using Leja slides which make it easier to compare your results with those of your colleagues. Leja slides are very easy to work with and allow a laboratory technician to quickly learn to perform an accurate count thus improving efficiency and quality.

Segre-Silberberg effect

The Segre-Silberberg effect (SS-effect) is a physical phenomenon that occurs when particles in a solution are transported by capillary forces, like sperm cells in a counting chamber. this effect causes the sperm cells to mave faster than the filling front, hence causing an underestimation of the semen concentration. Together with Hamilton Thorne Biosciences, Leja has done extensive research to this effect. A simple solution was found. When the chambers have a laminar design (a straight line from chamber entrance to air-outlet, like Leja's chambers which carry several design protections), this effect can be compensated. This is something that can only be done with the Leja chambers, whilst in other disposable counting chambers the effect is also occurring, but to an unknown level which can not be compensated.

Summary of SS-effect: [PDF: 218 KB]
Capillary-Loaded Particle Fluid Dynamics: Effect on Estimation of Sperm Concentration: [PDF: 115 KB]
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 26, No. 1, January/February 2005.
Particle Distribution in Low-Volume Capillary-Loaded Chambers: [PDF: 95 KB]
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 26, No. 1, January/February 2005.
Correlation table: [PDF: 72 KB]

An additional benefit of this, is that the Leja 20 micron chambers make it excepionally easy to determine the viscosity of a semen sample. Up till now there were two ways to do this: either by pulling up some semen and judging it by the eye or by using a viscosimeter, which is a very elaborate process. Now you can accurately determine the viscosity by timing the filling time of the chamber.

Filling time of a lamellar capillary filling semen analysis chamber is a rapid, precise and
accurate method to assess viscosity of seminal plasma: [PDF: 454 KB]
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 28, No. 4, July/August 2007
Sanne Rijnders, Jan GM Bolscher, Joseph McDonnell, Jan PW Vermeiden
Correlation table: [PDF: 72 KB]

Starter-kits:

Leja offers starter-kits, these kits come with all you need to start working with Leja slides within 10 minutes:

Catalogue-ID:

10 micron chamber depth - 4 analysis chambers: SC-10-01-04-B
20 micron chamber depth - 2 analysis chambers: SC-20-01-02-B
20 micron chamber depth - 4 analysis chambers: SC-20-01-04-B