FDA Approves Smartphone-based Sperm Testing System

New app lets men check their fertility without leaving home.

In a major development, the Food and Drug Administration in the United States has approved a smartphone-based sperm testing system.

YO Home Sperm Test is due to be released in January 2017. Created by Medical Electronic Systems, “a global leader in rapid, automated semen analysis and the supporting software management systems for hospitals and laboratories,” the hardware side of the system is a miniature microscope that attaches to an Android or Apple smartphone.

Once attached, the user then supplies a sperm sample. Using the phone’s own camera and lighting, the unit then allows for the examination and even an accurate count of active (motile) sperm.

To help with the analysis, the unit also comes with a container, a pipette, and a liquefying powder that has to be added to the sample before it can be tested.

As the sperm needs to rest for ten minutes after being collected and mixed with the liquefying powder, the software side of things provides a quick sperm trivia challenge—though it’s unclear what, if anything, a winning score generates.

It’s unclear if Medical Electronic Systems worked with Yoshitomo Kobori, who, as we reported here at Future of Sex, had recently developed a $7 micro lens that could also allow men to view and count their sperm.

That the YO Home Sperm Test has received FDA approval is a big step. It could very well open the door to other forms of sexual self-testing and examination being greenlit in the future.

Image source: YO Sperm Test