# Low cost, automated smartphone based assay for semen analysis

> **NIH NIH R44** · PHOENIX BIOSYSTEM, INC. · 2020 · $1

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Consumers are increasingly interested in knowing more about their own health. One of the most
familiar direct to-consumer diagnostic tests has been the home pregnancy test. We report a
practical approach towards developing a new point-of-care diagnostic test for another
reproductive health need—the assessment of male fertility. Traditionally, men are less likely to
seek medical attention for fertility concerns than their female partners (although millennial males
are more interested in fertility testing). A delay in diagnosis of male factor infertility may prolong
the infertility treatment process for the couple and result in unnecessary interventions for the
female partner.
Manual microscopic testing and computer-assisted semen analysis (CASA) technology are
expensive and require significant technical skill to use. The idea of an at-home, affordable testing
platform to screen for an abnormal semen analysis would obviate the need for a clinic visit and
provide preliminary data to guide referrals.
Our prototype device has been extensively tested with clinical semen samples. The preliminary
results presented are robust and unbiased and patient results are based on blind evaluation of
the technology by comparing our microchip results with standard methods. In this Fast Track
SBIR project we will further optimize the design parameters and develop a best in class,
cellphone-based semen analysis device that could be marketed to a) for home based testing and
b) as an inexpensive alternative to CASA in IVF clinics.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10028296
- **Project number:** 4R44HD099040-02
- **Recipient organization:** PHOENIX BIOSYSTEM, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** KUMAR SUBRAMANIAN
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2020-05-07 → 2020-06-18

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10028296

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10028296, Low cost, automated smartphone based assay for semen analysis (4R44HD099040-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10028296. Licensed CC0.

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