Patent ID: 7179641

Claim:
An apparatus for separating and detecting motile spermatozoa in a liquid sample, comprising: a separation vessel including (i) an inlet port, (ii) an outlet port arranged to be opened, (iii) a separation medium into which motile spermatozoa in the sample can flow via said inlet port, and (iv) an actuator operable to open said outlet port for allowing said separation medium to flow out of said vessel through said outlet port; and a spermatozoa detection device including (i) an application zone in communication with said outlet port, (ii) a detection zone, in which presence of spermatozoa can be detected, and (iii) a reagent zone containing a reagent which is capable of reacting with spermatozoa to facilitate detection of the spermatozoa in said detection zone, with said application zone, said detection zone and said reagent zone being arranged to permit capillary flow of spermatozoa from said application zone to said detection zone.