„Chipsi“

A new therapeutic method for reduced semen quality

As the first Institute in Austria—and one of the first throughout Europe—the Wunschbaby Institute Feichtinger offers the new Fertile Chip© for selection of the most optimal sperm for fertilization.

Fertility in men has sunk by 50%

Since the 70s, both sperm quality and quantity has decreased by more than 50%. In contrast to the decrease in fertility in women, this decrease is independent of age. Similarly, the average age at first paternity has increased rapidly in western countries since the 1970s (see Medical Tribune, 16/18).

Priv.-Doz. DDr. Michael Feichtinger currently counteracts this phenomenon with the use of the new Fertile Chip©. "Through its microstructure, this technology imitates the natural migration of sperm towards the egg cell in the female reproductive tract, and thus enables the gentle selection of vital sperm of both high genetic and physiological quality," explains DDr. Michael Feichtinger. "In addition, this technique can be used for in-vitro fertilization as well as for sperm selection for intrauterine insemination.”

Smoking is detrimental to fertility

It is a fact that with increasing age, the semen quality decreases, and that the production of oxygen radicals, as well as DNA fragmentation of the sperm, increases. This is accelerated by lifestyle factors such as nicotine abuse.

"Due to the strong influence of female age on reproductive ability, male age and sperm quality have been neglected for a long time. With state-of-the-art microchip technologies such as the Fertile Chip©, we at the WIF can positively influence this male infertility factor," says Priv.-Doz. DDr. Michael Feichtinger.

Prof. Wilfried Feichtinger, founder of the institute and "medical father" of the first “test-tube” baby in Austria, emphasizes: "Just as a hormone status is performed by default in women, a sperm analysis should also be performed in all man, even those without current wish for children, in order to determine the current state of sperm quality. The costs and the effort needed to perform this test are relatively low compared to the vital information that is obtained from a sperm analysis."