Post by : Bianca
Haleem
AI is making a new mark in fertility medicine. Researchers at Columbia University have built a system called Sperm Tracking and Recovery (STAR) that can identify extremely rare sperm cells in men previously classified as infertile.
In a notable case, STAR helped a U.S. couple achieve pregnancy after 19 years of failed attempts. The husband, 39, and his 37-year-old wife had gone through several IVF cycles and two surgical sperm retrievals without success.
STAR is an AI-driven, non-invasive tool that can process more than a million microscopic images per hour. Although the initial sample looked empty, the system analyzed over 2.5 million frames across two hours and ultimately located two live sperm — a finding that made the pregnancy possible.
For many couples, male infertility leads to prolonged treatment and emotional strain. Conditions such as azoospermia, where ejaculate contains no sperm, and cryptozoospermia, where sperm are present only in extremely low numbers, have typically left families with limited options beyond donor sperm or adoption.
The STAR device routes semen through a specialised microchip while AI reviews the flow in real time, spotting and isolating candidate sperm into tiny chambers. Those cells can then be used in procedures such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where a single sperm is injected directly into an egg.
Compared with manual searching and invasive extraction, STAR’s closed-system approach is faster, reduces exposure risks, and maintains sterility. Single-use components further lower the likelihood of contamination.
If larger clinical trials confirm these results, the technology could shift how clinics treat severe male infertility and expand the chance of biological fatherhood for many couples once deemed untreatable.
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