Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/24/2013 -- 4D Optical LLC was issued a design patent May 21, 2013 for a new microscope that enables near lab quality imaging at home. The high quality, yet low cost, pocket-sized 800x scope has no knobs or focus adjustments so it is very easy to use. Evaluations of sperm count, sperm motility, and sperm morphology can be done in real time by eye, or from video recorded using a cell phone camera that is simply set onto the included cell phone mount.

This innovative miniature microscope design named the FertileScope™ for fertility testing applications is made possible by patented technology utilizing recently developed materials and high precision manufacturing techniques. There is not another consumer microscope on the market that can compete with this scope on size and magnification. The FertileScope™ is built specifically for fertility applications and exchanges adjustability for simplicity and durability. The result is an unbelievably powerful and simple device that produces quality, high magnification images that will allow the user to quickly examine and evaluate sperm count, motility, and morphology.

To evaluate male fertility with the FertileScope™ just turn it on, apply a sperm sample to the lens, and look into the eyepiece. Making a sperm count in terms of millions of sperm per milliliter is facilitated by the way the device is designed. The field of view of the scope corresponds to one millionth of a milliliter, so the conversion factor is a straightforward factor of one million. For instance, if 20 sperm are visible in the field of view then statistically the sperm count is 20 million per milliliter. Evaluations of motility and morphology are also similarly easy to make.

This product has the potential to be disruptive to the industry of fertility testing because of the smart phone compatibility. Currently there are no smart phone apps that make automated evaluations of male fertility, but the FertileScope™ could be used with software designed for automated testing. 4D Optical President, Nick Bratt, hints that he is working on bringing an iPhone app to market. “It is only a matter of time before there will be smart phone apps for fertility testing using this microscope, and there will be additional applications for other uses as well” he says.

One of the great things about the FertileScope™ is that it allows anyone to measure improvement in male fertility health, monitor treatment, and record progress. Like many health concerns, fertility is often linked to general health conditions that are impacted by diet, exercise, stress, medications and other factors. Recording sperm samples with the video camera on a smart phone and narrating the video clips as they are recorded is an extraordinarily efficient way of keeping track of the tests and the conditions that produce the best results.

Smart phone apps that are designed to measure and analyze the benefits of exercise and diet help many people achieve and maintain fitness these days. Fertility health can now be measured and monitored in a similar way with enough precision and accuracy to encourage difficult lifestyle changes. This functionality is valuable because many couples that struggle with fertility are not able to correlate the efforts they make at improving their chances of conception with any tangible result until they actually conceive. This lack of positive feedback to reward the efforts being made can cause stress and contribute to the problem.

The FertileScope™ product is the culmination of several years of research and development by the optical consulting firm 4D Optical LLC which has been designing and prototyping world class optical products for industry leaders since it was founded in 2004. The design patent for the FertileScope™ issued May 21, 2013, but the scope also employs technology protected by a previous utility patent issued in 2011 concerning the microscope objective design. To learn more about the FertileScope™ please visit the product website at http://www.fertility-male.com.

About 4D Optical LLC
4D Optical LLC is an engineering services laboratory specializing in optical product development. 4D has been a technology innovator since 2004, and has contributed to many high volume consumer products that are sold by industry leaders worldwide. 4D Optical LLC can be found on the web at http://www.4doptical.com.