BACKGROUND Infertility and pregnancy loss are longstanding problems. Successful
fertilization and high-quality embryos are prerequisites for an ongoing pregnancy. Studies …

BACKGROUND Oocyte activation deficiency (OAD) is attributed to the majority of cases
underlying failure of ICSI cycles, the standard treatment for male factor infertility. Oocyte …

Total fertilization failure (TFF) can occur during in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, even
following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Various male or female factors could …

Infertility affects approximately 15% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide, of which up to
30% of the cases are caused by male factors alone. The origin of male infertility is mostly …

Spermatozoa are highly differentiated cells that produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) due
to aerobic metabolism. Below a certain threshold, ROS are important in signal transduction …

Accumulating evidence has highlighted the contribution of oxidative stress and sperm DNA
fragmentation (SDF) in the pathophysiology of male infertility. SDF has emerged as a novel …

The robotic manipulation of deformable linear objects is a classic and challenging topic.
Apart from synthetic objects, such as wires and cables, linear objects are also commonly …

The fertilizing spermatozoon is a highly specialized cell that selects from millions along the
female tract until the oocyte. The paternal components influence the oocyte activation during …

In 2002, sperm-specific phospholipase C zeta1 (PLCZ1) was discovered and through these
20 years, it has been established as the predominant sperm oocyte-activating factor. PLCZ1 …

Fertilization failure during assisted reproductive technologies (ART) is often unpredictable,
as this failure is encountered only after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm …