Is that a smartphone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me? The answer could now be a bit of both. An all-new smartphone accessory could change the way men think about their fertility, and make it easier than ever for guys to optimize their baby-making power.
A team of fertility gurus from Harvard Medical School just invented a slick new tool that lets dudes check their fertility stats without having to head to the doctor’s office and wait for results. Using a special accessory that turns a smartphone camera into a high-powered microscope, guys just have to put a small semen sample onto a disposable slide and put it into a slot.
Once loaded, a specially designed app does all the hard work and provides an up-close-and-personal look at the sperm. That video feed is analyzed by the app and an algorithm determines whether everything is A-OK or if something might be wrong. The movement and number of the sperm are two of the most important factors in fertility, and in the research team’s extensive testing, the app was able to detect problems with a whopping 98% accuracy.
What’s particularly cool about this innovative system is that the accessory is super cheap to manufacture. In fact, the add-on prototype used by the scientists can be made for about $5, making it a fantastic option for developing nations and greatly expands its potential for at-home use. The additional costs of mass producing, branding, and getting FDA approval for the device will raise the cost a bit, but the team estimates the final cost to purchase one will be less than $50.
It’s a bit ironic, since there’s been a lot of talk about laptops and other electronics potentially harming sperm count. Oh science. What do you think?