- Title: CHINA: Sperm extractor helps patients overcome embarrassment
- Date: 5th August 2014
- Summary: COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING SPERM ACTIVITY AND STATISTICS REPORT SPERM STATISTICS REPORT
- Embargoed: 20th August 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General,Health,Quirky,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA2NHZE1XYFTGWBR06C3SFWJY9A
- Story Text: A Chinese company has invented a machine to help male patients extract sperm for medical analysis and sperm donation. The Jiangsu Sanwe Medical Science and Technology Center made the device to spare the embarrassment of Chinese men who previously would have been asked to masturbate either at home or in a hospital ante-room, something that can deter potential sperm donors and those seeking fertility treatment or suffering from urological conditions from providing a sample.
The device was introduced to a number of Chinese hospitals and medical institutions in 2010, and its inventor, Jiangsu Sanwe chairman Ding Guijiang, believes its automated workings make patients more comfortable than the traditional manual method of collecting sperm.
"Nowadays the amount of sperm (in semen) has dramatically decreased. Hospitals mostly use masturbation as a method (to collect sperms) and they don't provide a venue or equipment for the task. This makes collecting sperm on the spot very difficult. Under such circumstances, in order to meet clinical demands, we invented this automatic sperm extractor equipment, which is also friendly to use," Ding said.
Equipped with a massage pipe that resembles a female vagina, the device can be adjusted to suit the height of individual users, while adjustable speed, force and temperature, helps provide a realistic sexual environment, resulting in ejaculation. It's also more advantageous than asking people to bring in a sample from home, which will suffer a deterioration in quality during the journey to hospital.
According to Ding, the device simulates a human vagina in a number of ways. "In terms of temperature, wetness and amount of light, it is able to meet certain standards and simulate a vagina. Meanwhile, it can also replicate the physical movements of sexual intercourse by moving back and forth. Also (it simulates) vaginal contraction, which cannot be realised by the normal human body. It is able to, by a huge extent, provide comprehensive coverage and pressure," he added.
Li Siming, doctor of Urological Consultation at Shanghai Pudong Hospital, said around 50 of his patients use the device to extract sperm every month and says it is a more efficient way to maximise the amount collected, although he says it isn't perfect. "This device is much more efficient than masturbation. But there are still some weaknesses, for instance it cannot exactly simulate the temperature and wetness of a vagina. Also, the device may not fit as well when compared to human beings. After all, it is made out of plastic and metal," Li said.
Ding said Jiangsu Sanwe, which produces a variety of medical equipment for male healthcare, sells around 10,000 of the devices annually, at a cost of 80,000 yuan (13,000 US dollars) each. The device has been bought by clinics in the United States, Germany, Russia and France. He says the company's next project will be to develop portable sperm extractors. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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