Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PorCSperM (Portable Characterisation of Sperm Motility)
Reporting period: 2017-04-01 to 2018-09-30
Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
Fertility is the key to profitability in the cattle livestock industry. A key parameter in fertility is the interval between calving. The 24 million dairy cows in the EU currently calf at intervals that are 30-60 days longer (depending on country) than optimal, at a cost of more than €2 to the industry as a whole. The quality of bull semen is one of the key factors affecting fertilisation rates, so that sperm motility is monitored both in fresh ejaculates collected during routine bull fertility assessments and before/after storing semen in frozen samples for use in artificial insemination to check damage incurred in the freeze-thaw cycle. Two techniques are currently used to monitor motility: visual estimation, which is subject to large uncertainties, including person-to-person variability, and compter-assisted sperm analysis (CASA), which is expensive, laboratory (rather than farm) based, and involves diluting semen samples, which has a largely unknown effect on the results of measurement.
Based on work funded by an ERC Advanced Grant (PHYSAPS), we have invented a technique for the rapid monitoring of animal sperm motility. It is based on ‘differential dynamic microscopy’ (DDM), in which a sequence of low-magnification images of swimming micro-organisms is collected, analysed, and fitted to a mathematical model of the organism’s motility, from which we can extract parameters such as the average swimming speed and the fraction of non-motile organism. Previously, we had built a prototype DDM instrument with associated analysis software and tested it on farm to assess bull sperm motility immediately after semen collection. However, the tests were conducted by experts from our laboratory. This ERC Proof of Concept grant PorCSperM has enabled us to transform our initial prototype into an advanced prototype that is operable by non-experts, and complete a market survey to assess the commercial viability of the technology.
Under the first task of our project (‘Development of standard protocols’), we have defined standard protocols for recording and analyzing movies of motile sperms on farm so that the non-expert user can obtain relevant information with a single click. An advance compared to the pre-PorCSperM prototype is the inclusion of the fraction of non-motile sperms as a standard output. Working with the Roslin Institute, Scotland, we have used the new prototype to assess semen samples from 10 bulls. 20 frozen samples received from our project partner RAFT Solutions Ltd have also been studied to further develop our prototype, validate its output against current technology (CASA), monitor time dependence and study viscosity effects from dilution. Some of these results have been accepted for a publication in the journal PLOS One, and another publication is in preparation.
Under the second task (‘Software development’), we have worked with the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) to produce a single software package designed to maximize usability by non-experts on farm. With a single click, the package performs the three tasks of movie recording, image processing, and DDM analysis, saves the relevant data, and delivers a summary table with numerical values to characterize sperm motility. The software package has been used when testing our advanced prototype both at farms and in our laboratory. The software has also been optimized to achieve faster performance. Such software optimization together with improvements in the processing and analysis combine to enhance performance by a factor of 2 to 5. We can now perform a typical measurement in about 2 minutes.
Under the third task (‘Hardware validation’), we have custom-built a microscope assessing semen based on DDM technology. We have also created prototypes using commercial microscopes specially modified for the purpose conducting DDM. Additionally, we have been able to identify a camera that satisfies the technical requirements while retaining versatility and reasonable pricing for the final instrument. Lastly, we have fully integrated proper temperature control into our prototype, and defined minimal requirements for the laptop computer (hardware and operating system) to be used with our instrument.
Under the final task (‘Commissioning and delivering a market report’), we commissioned a market survey from a very experienced veterinary business consultant, Ms. Chris Ward (Vet Business Development). In the first part of this exercise, Ward conducted in-depth 30-minute telephone interviews with specialist farm and equine veterinary practitioners (covering cattle sheep, pig, poultry and horse), fertility specialists and breeding company personnel to examine how they perceive fertility issues and challenges in their respective sectors. One of the main results of this stage of research was to identify cattle, sheep and pig as the most promising sectors for the initial commercialisation of our technology.
In the second stage of this work, Ward conducted structured 10-minute telephone interviews with 50 UK livestock farmers who owned a bull, boar or ram or use artificial insemination, and 50 UK livestock vets in farm or mixed practices who conducted fertility soundness examinations or collected semen for artificial insemination. Some of the questions were based on issues identified in the first stage of the work; others were designed to probe awareness of infertility problems. Perhaps the most encouraging outcome of this stage is the finding that over three quarters of farmers and vets thought that a new, easy-to-use technique for on-farm assessment of sperm motility would be ‘quite useful’ or ‘very useful’. Moreover, the most enthusiastic response amongst this group came from vets who would want to use the new technology with bulls, thus validating our initial focus on this group of farm animals.
The findings from the final task enabled the team to enter an 'emerging innovation' business award competition to bid for start-up funding, reaching the finals but losing out to a team whose idea was much nearer market. Apart from obtaining useful feedback, we also received an invitation to participate in an event to pitch to mentors organised by the commercial branch of our University. As a result, we are now in touch with experts with relevant experience to help us take the final steps towards commercialisation.
Based on work funded by an ERC Advanced Grant (PHYSAPS), we have invented a technique for the rapid monitoring of animal sperm motility. It is based on ‘differential dynamic microscopy’ (DDM), in which a sequence of low-magnification images of swimming micro-organisms is collected, analysed, and fitted to a mathematical model of the organism’s motility, from which we can extract parameters such as the average swimming speed and the fraction of non-motile organism. Previously, we had built a prototype DDM instrument with associated analysis software and tested it on farm to assess bull sperm motility immediately after semen collection. However, the tests were conducted by experts from our laboratory. This ERC Proof of Concept grant PorCSperM has enabled us to transform our initial prototype into an advanced prototype that is operable by non-experts, and complete a market survey to assess the commercial viability of the technology.
Under the first task of our project (‘Development of standard protocols’), we have defined standard protocols for recording and analyzing movies of motile sperms on farm so that the non-expert user can obtain relevant information with a single click. An advance compared to the pre-PorCSperM prototype is the inclusion of the fraction of non-motile sperms as a standard output. Working with the Roslin Institute, Scotland, we have used the new prototype to assess semen samples from 10 bulls. 20 frozen samples received from our project partner RAFT Solutions Ltd have also been studied to further develop our prototype, validate its output against current technology (CASA), monitor time dependence and study viscosity effects from dilution. Some of these results have been accepted for a publication in the journal PLOS One, and another publication is in preparation.
Under the second task (‘Software development’), we have worked with the Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) to produce a single software package designed to maximize usability by non-experts on farm. With a single click, the package performs the three tasks of movie recording, image processing, and DDM analysis, saves the relevant data, and delivers a summary table with numerical values to characterize sperm motility. The software package has been used when testing our advanced prototype both at farms and in our laboratory. The software has also been optimized to achieve faster performance. Such software optimization together with improvements in the processing and analysis combine to enhance performance by a factor of 2 to 5. We can now perform a typical measurement in about 2 minutes.
Under the third task (‘Hardware validation’), we have custom-built a microscope assessing semen based on DDM technology. We have also created prototypes using commercial microscopes specially modified for the purpose conducting DDM. Additionally, we have been able to identify a camera that satisfies the technical requirements while retaining versatility and reasonable pricing for the final instrument. Lastly, we have fully integrated proper temperature control into our prototype, and defined minimal requirements for the laptop computer (hardware and operating system) to be used with our instrument.
Under the final task (‘Commissioning and delivering a market report’), we commissioned a market survey from a very experienced veterinary business consultant, Ms. Chris Ward (Vet Business Development). In the first part of this exercise, Ward conducted in-depth 30-minute telephone interviews with specialist farm and equine veterinary practitioners (covering cattle sheep, pig, poultry and horse), fertility specialists and breeding company personnel to examine how they perceive fertility issues and challenges in their respective sectors. One of the main results of this stage of research was to identify cattle, sheep and pig as the most promising sectors for the initial commercialisation of our technology.
In the second stage of this work, Ward conducted structured 10-minute telephone interviews with 50 UK livestock farmers who owned a bull, boar or ram or use artificial insemination, and 50 UK livestock vets in farm or mixed practices who conducted fertility soundness examinations or collected semen for artificial insemination. Some of the questions were based on issues identified in the first stage of the work; others were designed to probe awareness of infertility problems. Perhaps the most encouraging outcome of this stage is the finding that over three quarters of farmers and vets thought that a new, easy-to-use technique for on-farm assessment of sperm motility would be ‘quite useful’ or ‘very useful’. Moreover, the most enthusiastic response amongst this group came from vets who would want to use the new technology with bulls, thus validating our initial focus on this group of farm animals.
The findings from the final task enabled the team to enter an 'emerging innovation' business award competition to bid for start-up funding, reaching the finals but losing out to a team whose idea was much nearer market. Apart from obtaining useful feedback, we also received an invitation to participate in an event to pitch to mentors organised by the commercial branch of our University. As a result, we are now in touch with experts with relevant experience to help us take the final steps towards commercialisation.