ABSTRACT
Sensitive and informed practitioners and health care personnel are becoming more available to work with men undergoing testing and treatment, helping to reduce the humiliation and embarrassment previously common to male infertility patients. In men who have an extremely low sperm concentration, it may be important to evaluate the reproductive hormones such as testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and prolactin. The measurement of these hormones enables the physician to determine if there is an endocrine cause for the infertility and determine if the testicles ought to be producing sperm. The hemizoria assay utilizes one-half of a human egg's outer membrane and determines if sperm can bind to this membrane. Sperm capacitation is requisite for the acrosome reaction and fertilization to occur. The beads bind to sperm coated with antisperm antibodies, and the percentage of motile sperm with attached beads is calculated.
