Research Support
SPIRITS

A mathematical approach to puzzles of spermatozoa: Hydrodynamics of sperm swimming in a channel with complex geometry

Project Gist

Exploring sperm swimming through a “mathematical” microscope

Keywords

Fluid mechanics, Sperm, Swimming, Mathematics

Background and Purpose

A sperm cell swims in fluid with a flagellum, a moving whip-like appendage. In a complex geometry such as an oviduct, a standard microscope could not easily capture detailed cell motions, which we explore through a ‘mathematical microscope’, with analyzing equations of fluid motion. A goal of this project is to establish a novel approach to biomedical sciences, though integrating laboratory experiments, image analyses, and mathematical and computational fluid mechanics.

Project Achievements

Extracting human sperm waveforms from high-speed microscopic images, we have successfully reconstructed the sperm swimming in a mathematical form. With computing a flow pattern around the cell, we have found a simple mathematical expression for a swimming sperm. Through this international project, a young researcher could acquire necessary skills for managing and organizing a research project as well as wider perspectives for interdisciplinary sciences.

Future Prospects

We further pursue theoretical and numerical analyses for laboratory experimental data, and explore mechanical aspects of fertilization. We expect that these studies could potentially contribute to some parts of infertility treatments.

Figure

Flow around a sperm cell, obtained by a numerical computation of a fluid equation

Principal Investigator

ISHIMOTO Kenta

・ISHIMOTO Kenta
・The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research
・After receiving a Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2015, K.I. joined The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, as an assistant professor. He is concurrently a project assistant professor at Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (RIMS), Kyoto University. His research is mainly on theoretical hydrodynamics of swimming cells with cilia and flagella.
http://academist-cf.com/journal/?p=4094
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research/research_results/2016/170324_2.html