Study on Human Spermatozoal Motility: Preliminary Report on Newly Developed Multiple Exposure Photography Method

We have developed a multiple exposure photography (MEP) method for objectively evaluating the spermatozoal motility. The semen specimen placed in a 10‐μm chamber was photographed through the phase‐contrast microscope. Light pulses were generated with the aid of a multipulser using a xenon stroboscope (pulse interval: 160 msec., exposure: 1 sec.). In the photomicrographs, motile spermatozoa produced images of six‐ringed chains, while nonmotile spermatozoa appeared as brighter images which clearly visualized spermatozoa from the head to the tail. When 30 semen specimens from fertile males were analyzed 1 hour after their collection, the mean spermatozoal concentration was found to be 79 times 106 per ml the mean rate of motile spermatozoa 39.7% and the mean spermatozoal velocity 29.3 μm per sec. The rate of motile spermatozoa estimated by the MEP method (39.7%) was lower than that estimated by the direct observation method (60% or more) by ca. 20%. The MEP method enables concurrent accurate estimation of the spermatozoal concentration, the rate of motile spermatozoa and the velocity of individual spermatozoa.