Low sperm count is one of those topics that people seem more likely to Google than talk about. But Sandstone Diagnostics wants to change the way people think about male infertility through apps and a connected device designed to track sperm count and give men hope that they could change their predicament.
Although men are the sole cause or a contributing cause in about 40 percent of infertility cases, according to data from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, men are less likely to seek medical help than women.
A little self-deprecating humor went a long way in co-founder and CEO Greg Sommer’s overview of the company at Health 2.0 last month. His frank, yet humorous approach to the subject as he recounted his personal experience got a warm reception from the audience, particularly when he highlighted the website it previously launched, “Don’t Cook Your Balls.” It shares articles, videos and other relevant content on male infertility and offers guidance, lists potential causes and encourages men to get a semen analysis either at a urologist, fertility clinic or through a home test.
Since it launched its Android app at the start of October, Sommer said in an email it has had a few hundred downloads through Google Play. The app is designed to help users track aspects of their health that could impact sperm count including diet, exercise, stress, heat exposure, toxin exposure and general wellness. It gives users a score for each category each time they make an entry. It also provides feedback based on responses with the goal of improving sperm health. Users can track their sperm count score over time and determine if there is any correlation to the choices they make and improvements to their sperm count.
An iOS version of the app is expected to debut in Apple’s app store sometime this month.
The company is awaiting 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its own semen analysis device, which is currently in clinical trials in the U.S. Sommer and Ulrich Schaff, CTO and co-founder, developed the Trak Fertility system when they were research scientists at Sandia National Laboratories. They had worked on point-of-care blood tests to detect radiation exposure and biotoxins and discovered that they had built something portable that was useful for complex samples, cell counts and assays and had potential for other applications. Sara Naab is also a co-founder.
They licensed the technology and formed the company in 2012.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The Trak Fertility System includes an engine, a disposable test plate and seal, a sample collection cup and a dropper. A semen sample is collected in the cup, swirled around, put in the test plate with the dropper and sealed. Then it’s loaded into the centrifuge, which spins the sample for several minutes. Sperm cells collect at the end of the test plate, which is calibrated like a thermometer to deliver a sperm cell count reading. When the kit is launched, app users will be ble to factor in these results to their app.
Although other companies have developed ways for men to track sperm count, the fertility segment of digital health has tended to focus on women, such as Conceivable, Kindara, Wildflower Health, and Welltwigs. Reproductive health startup Glow did launch an app earlier this year aimed at men.
