Novel sperm chromatin dispersion test with artificial intelligence-aided halo evaluation: A comparison study with existing modalities

Sperm chromatin dispersion test is a common and inexpensive technique to assess sperm DNA fragmentation, but its subjectivity in assessing a small number of spermatozoa is a disadvantage. To study the efficacy of a new sperm chromatin dispersion test kit (R10) combined with an artificial intelligence-aided halo-evaluation platform (X12) and compare the results to those of existing sperm DNA fragmentation testing methods. Semen samples from normozoospermic donors (n = 10) and infertile men with abnormal semen parameters (n = 10) were enrolled. DNA fragmentation indices were examined by multiple assays, including R10, Halosperm G2 (G2), sperm chromatin structure assay, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick end labeling. In R10 assay, the DNA fragmentation indices were obtained both manually (manual R10) and by X12 (AI-R10). The obtained DNA fragmentation indices were analyzed by agreement analyses. The DNA fragmentation indices obtained by manual R10 and those obtained by AI-R10 showed a strong significant correlation (r = 0.97, p