Defining What Reproductive Laboratories Do

Abstract

Reproductive laboratories should define the list of procedures under their scope of activity. Even though the embryology laboratory is the core of ART clinics, the roles of the andrology laboratory cannot be underestimated as it comes into play not only in the diagnosis of male factor infertility, which is contributory in 50–60 % of infertile couples, but also in infertility treatments. The typical clinical andrology laboratory performs some or all of the following diagnostic and therapeutic procedures: routine semen analysis, computer assisted semen analysis (CASA), semen biochemical tests, presence and quantification of seminal leukocytes, detection and quantification of antisperm antibodies in the semen, serum or cervical mucus, tests of sperm function (sperm membrane integrity, reactive oxygen species [ROS], seminal antioxidant capacity, sperm DNA integrity, acrosome reaction and sperm penetration assays), cryopreservation of spermatozoa (either ejaculated or surgically retrieved), and preparation of sperm for intrauterine insemination or in vitro fertilization.