Microscopic Examination

MAKLER COUNTING CHAMBER

• Maklers Chamber is used for the assessment of sperm count and motility. 
• It has two pieces of optically flat glass: 
• Chamber, 
• Cover glass, with a 1 sq.mm fine grid in the center subdivided into 100 squares of 0.1 x 0.1 mm each.

• The number of spermatozoa counted in any 10 squares of grid indicates their concentration as million /mL

3 important microscopic examination are – 

• Sperm Count
• Sperm Motility
• Sperm Morphology

SPERM COUNT

Count the number of spermatozoa in any 10 squares of grid.  their That will give the Sperm count in millions/mL

> 15 million / ml	Normozoospermia
< 15 million / ml.	Oligozoospermia
< 5 million / ml.	Severe oligozoospermia
1-2 sperm in the ejaculate	Cryptozoospermia
all dead sperm	Necrozoospermia
No sperm in the ejaculate	Azoospermia

IF NO SPERMS SEEN IN EJACULATE

• If no sperms are seen in Maklers chamber, concentrate entire sperm with centrifugation, into a small pellet.
• Now check the pellet on the plain glass-slide. 
• If again, no sperm is seen, repeat the analysis before giving the final report.

SPERM MOTILITY

The motility of sperm are divided into four different grades-

• Grade a: Sperm with progressive linear motility. These are the strongest and swim fast in a straight line. 
• Grade b: (non-linear motility): These also move forward but tend to travel in a curved or crooked motion. 
• Grade  c:  These have sluggish motility.
• Grade  d:  These are immotile and fail to move at all.