Micra is a new product for evaluating male fertility at home.

The Micra is an inexpensive alternative to Kokopelli Technologies' microscopes and kits. The Micra is a 200 power microscope. You rotate the tube to focus this specially designed microscope. It features a battery powered LED for cool illumination and has good quality optics.

The Micra was designed to evaluate motility in the field. You can use it to do sperm counting as well. The Micra has an internal reticule so you can count sperm and convert your count to the standard units of million sperm per milliliter. The directions for doing a sperm count say, "8 cells in 16 grids are equivalent to 20 million sperm cells per mL of semen." Since the cover slip is not fixed the volume may vary a bit so you get an estimate rather than a precise sperm count.

Micra Home Semen Analysis Kit Buy»

Evaluate Semen in the Field– The Micra was initially designed to be used in the field to evaluate motility in a semen sample before artificial insemination. It is sold as "Handycope" to the livestock industry. Imagine that you have just received a vial of semen. Before you use it you would like to be sure that it survived the journey in good condition. The Handycope was designed to have a quick look in the field to see that the sperm have good motility.

What's in the box? The kit includes the microscope, instructions, two sample trays, two reusable polycarbonate slides, 10 cover slips, 4 pipettes, and two bottles of diluent. You can use standard microscope slides and cover slips with the Micra.

One caution- it would be possible to miss sperm that were present because you did not get the microscope focused correctly. The kit does not include a prepared sample slide or a standard solution so you can be sure you are doing everything correctly. You may wish to purchase our slide of Stained Human Sperm so you can see what sperm look like under the Micra.

If you use a Micra and do not find sperm, we recommend that you mix a few drops of our Sperm Sized Spheres in the sample and have another look. If you see the Spheres but no sperm you will know that you have focused correctly. Remember, the preservative in Sperm Sized Spheres will kill sperm so do not evaluate motility on a sample that contains Sperm Sized Spheres.