The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will soon commercialise its newly developed diagnostic test Resazurin Reduction Test (RRT) to assess the quality and functional ability of spermatozoa.

The premier research organisation has invited companies interested in commercialising this diagnostic test to assess the quality and functional ability of spermatozoa. The ICMR has filed a patent application for this technology.

Senior officials in the ICMR said that the development of this new diagnostic test is of significance as semen analysis remains the basic tool for assessing male infertility. The major drawback in routine semen analysis is that it has limited prognostic value because it cannot evaluate the functional competence of the semen sample. Resazurin reduction test, developed at National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH), can be used to assess the quality of sperm in humans as well as higher animals. The test is very simple, cost effective and can be introduced in infertility clinics of even in primary health care centers in rural and urban set up.

Officials said that there are several salient features to this technology developed by the ICMR. They include: prediction in sperm quality improvement before and after a particular treatment; prediction of sperm quality in IVF (in-vitro fertilisation failure) set-up; evaluation of sperm quality in farm animals such as bulls; the RRT is simple, cost effective and more sensitive than the expensive and time consuming sperm function tests such as sperm mitochondrial activity index (SMAI); it can be performed with a relatively small volume of semen, is easy to perform and require any equipment therefore could be of immense help to andrology clinics and veterinary breeders and practitioners; it can be performed at home as a home fertility kit; and it has significant clinical importance as it helps the andrologists for timely therapy, thus improving the reproductive health of men.