Urinalysis and Body Fluids 6th Edition by Majorie DiLorenzo, Susan Strasinger

Exercise 32

The primary reason to dilute a semen specimen before performing a sperm concentration is to:

A. Immobilize the sperm

B. Facilitate the chamber count

C. Decrease the viscosity

D. Stain the sperm

Step 1 of 2

Sperm concentration:

Semen analysis is a process of evaluating male fertility through microscopic and macroscopic examination.

• In the laboratory, sperm concentration process is done using Neubauer counting chamber.

• The sperms are counted in the Neubauer counting chamber by diluting the semen specimen and counting the number of cells in it.

• Most commonly used semen dilution ratio is 1:20 and it is using mechanical pipette (positive displacement pipette).

• Mobility of sperm obstructs the counting process.

• It is very important to dilute the semen specimen, because dilution immobilizes the sperm before counting the sperm concentration.

Therefore, semen specimen should be diluted before performing sperm concentration, because it immobilizes the sperm. Hence, the correct answer is option.