Reacción a "Reactions: Ultrasounds increase sperm mobility by 266%"

The press release faithfully reflects the content of the article and does not make claims that are not supported by the evidence presented in the study.

The study is of good quality, and in order to study the effect of ultrasound on sperm movement, the authors have constructed a special microfluidic device to analyze the sperm response at the level of individual cells.

The conclusions appear to be robust, although the sample size is not very high. Nevertheless, considering the clear and consistent differences between controls and treated groups, and the fact that this is a preliminary study, I believe the results are well-founded and the conclusions are supported.

It is a novel study; there is little evidence on the use of high-frequency ultrasound to stimulate sperm movement, and it has never been analyzed at the level of single cells, so the information provided is interesting and has the potential to be used in clinical settings. In fact, this work combines two very interesting techniques: high-frequency ultrasound and a droplet microfluidic system that allows the analysis of sperm one by one. Furthermore, this study attempts to go beyond and provide a biochemical and molecular explanation of how the observed increase in sperm motility occurs. The authors associate the effect with variations in the membrane potential of the sperm, a key factor in achieving the appropriate mobility for fertilization and subsequent embryo development.

Beyond the relatively small number of samples, and even smaller number of individuals included in the study, there are no specific limitations in the study. Since the study remains at the level of analyzed semen samples and there are no clinical results after its use in patients, the question remains open as to whether the improvements observed in vitro in sperm motility will translate into improvements in the clinical outcomes of patients.

According to the WHO, there are 186 million people worldwide suffering from infertility, and half of the cases are due to male infertility. However, a small minority of patients seek treatment and overcome the disease. One of the most important reasons for this very low access to treatments is the costs involved and their low efficacy. Faced with this emergency and an absolutely neglected disease at a global level, the results of this study indicate a possible strategy to adapt low-technology treatments, such as classic in vitro insemination or intrauterine insemination, to more severe cases. If the results were to be confirmed in a clinical setting, and their safety for developing embryos were to be verified, we could have a tool to make fertility treatments more accessible and successful.