Dataset for Evaluation of a novel microfluidic chip-like device for purifying bovine frozen-thawed semen for in vitro fertilization

VetCount^TM Harvester (MotilityCount ApS, Copenhagen, Denmark) is a novel sperm
purification device. It consists of two chambers separated by a 10 μM microporous
membrane. Untreated semen is applied in one chamber, sperm collection medium
in the other. Motile sperm cells are selected by actively swimming through the
membrane pores into the medium containing chamber. After 30 min incubation,
the sperm collection medium can be aspirated and the purified sperm is ready
for further use.
In a first experiment we assessed sperm quality and recovery of frozen-thawed semen
from six different bulls (n = 6) prior to and after purification with the
VetCount^TM Harvester or BoviPure^TM gradient centrifugation, a commercial available standard technique. In a second approach, a competitive fertilization assay was performed. Ten straws per bull were pooled, split
in two subsamples, and simultaneously purified either with the VetCount^TM Harvester
or BoviPure^TM gradient centrifugation. Following purification, sperm cells
from each treatment group were fluorescently labeled with either MitoTracker^TM
Red FM or MitoTracker^TM Green FM. In vitro matured oocytes were inseminated with
equal numbers of red and green labeled sperm. Eighteen hours after fertilization,
fluorescence microscopy was used to determine the origin of the fertilizing spermatozoon.