AI-powered Star system helps uncover hidden sperm for biological fatherhood

A Columbia University team has developed the Star system, an AI-driven microfluidic method that can detect and extract single sperm in real time from semen samples of men with azoospermia, enabling some to achieve biological fatherhood. Since development, the technique has aided hundreds of patients, finding sperm in about 30% of cases and delivering up to 40 times more viable sperm than manual searches; the first Star-assisted birth occurred last year. While early results are promising, experts caution that large-scale clinical trials and careful handling of medical data are needed to assess long-term outcomes and manage expectations.