Sperm cryopreservation has been widely used in assisted reproductive technology (ART) and has resulted in millions of live births. Two principal approaches have been adopted: conventional (slow) freezing and vitrification. As a traditional technique, slow freezing has been successfully employed and widely used at ART clinics whereas the latter, a process to solidify liquid into an amorphous or glassy state, may become a faster alternative method of sperm cryopreservation with significant benefits in regard to simple equipment and applicability to fertility centers. Sperm vitrification has its own limitations. Firstly, small volume of load is usually plunged to liquid nitrogen to achieve high cooling rate, which makes large volume sample cryopreservation less feasible. Secondly, direct contact with liquid nitrogen increases the potential risk of contamination. Recently, new carriers have been developed to facilitate improved control over the volume and speed, and new strategies have been implemented to minimize the contamination risk. In summary, although sperm vitrification has not yet been applied in routine sperm cryopreservation, its potential as a standard procedure is growing.

中文翻译：

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人类精子玻璃化冷冻：最先进的技术

精子冷冻保存已广泛应用于辅助生殖技术（ART），并已导致数以百万计的活产。采用了两种主要方法：常规（慢速）冷冻和玻璃化。作为一种传统技术，慢速冷冻已在 ART 诊所得到成功应用并广泛使用，而后者是将液体凝固成无定形或玻璃态的过程，可能成为精子冷冻保存的更快替代方法，在设备简单方面具有显着优势以及对生育中心的适用性。精子玻璃化冷冻有其自身的局限性。首先，通常将小体积的负载浸入液氮中以实现高冷却速率，这使得大体积样品冷冻保存不太可行。其次，直接接触液氮会增加潜在的污染风险。最近，开发了新的载体以促进对体积和速度的改进控制，并实施了新的策略以最小化污染风险。总之，尽管精子玻璃化冷冻尚未应用于常规精子冷冻保存，但其作为标准程序的潜力正在不断增长。