Prof. Yu Sun
2022 Grant Winner
Prof. Yu Sun
Affiliation: UofT Engineering; Tier I Canada Research Chair; Director of UofT Robotics Institute
Research project: Non-Invasive Selection of Single Spermatozoa with High DNA Integrity for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
Collaborators: Prof. Clifford Librach, U of T, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Award: 2022/23 Vector Institute-Temerty Clinical AI Integration Grant - $300,000 CAD
Worldwide, one in six couples struggles with infertility. One widely used method in infertility treatment is IntraCytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) involves selecting and injecting a single sperm into an egg. However, the damage of sperm DNA in the single sperm used for ICSI lowers fertilization rates and increases miscarriages.
The grant winners developed and validated machine learning models for non-invasive sperm measurement and quantitative prediction of sperm DNA fragmentation.
The award will be used to run a clinical trial that compares clinical outcomes (e.g., ongoing pregnancy and live birth rates) with sperm selected by the machine learning model and by embryologists.
By including patients with both male and non-male factors and of different ages, this trial will further reveal the effectiveness of machine learning-based sperm selection in these patients. The technology will standardize sperm selection and improve clinical outcomes, which will also help improve the health of IVF offspring.