Columbia University: This AI-imaging tech from Columbia researchers is solving male infertility
- Global Research Partnerships
- Oct 27
- 1 min read
A team of Columbia researchers has developed one of TIME Magazine's best inventions of 2025: an innovative AI-imaging advancement that addresses male infertility.
The Sperm Tracking and Recovery system, led by Dr. Zev Williams, director of the Columbia University Fertility Center, helps find rare sperm cells in the semen samples of people with azoospermia—a condition where a person's semen contains few to zero sperm cells.
With STAR's assistance, a couple that had spent nearly 20 years trying to conceive finally had a successful pregnancy in March 2025. The breakthrough technology uses advanced AI algorithms to identify and track individual sperm cells that would otherwise be impossible to locate using traditional methods.
"When they got the positive pregnancy test, the entire lab was jumping up and down, cheering," Williams told Spectator. "To help bring life and joy into the world—to see that kind of success—that's literally why we do everything that we do."
