Within 30–60 minutes from the time of collection:
- Assess liquefaction and appearance of the semen sample.
- Measure semen volume.
- Measure semen pH (if this is required).
- Prepare a wet preparation and assess sperm motility. Also, determine the dilution that will be needed to perform an accurate sperm count.
- Assess sperm viability if the percentage of motile spermatozoa is low. If this testing is not performed in your laboratory, a comment should be included on the report that the decreased motility may result from either non-viable or non-motile sperm.
- Make semen smears for assessing morphology.
- Prepare dilutions for sperm counts and perform the counts.
