Supercooled water or solutions can be destabilized by the nucleation of ice, which can be triggered by a wide range of different mechanisms. Constraining water in a constant-volume (isochoric) container minimizes the effects of many of these mechanisms through thermodynamic, kinetic, and fluid dynamic means, significantly enhancing supercooling stability. This invention describes methods and devices for high-stability and optionally transportable supercooling of aqueous solutions or suspensions, and the stable and long-term preservation of biological matter that may be stored therein.

This invention relates to the preservation of vascularized tissues and organs by freezing or by vitrification; to organ and tissue cryopreservation or banking; and to tissue and organ perfusion with cryoprotective agents (also known as cryoprotectants).

Provided herein are methods for the isolation of platelets, for example, isolation of platelets from umbilical cord blood. In certain embodiments, presented herein are methods for preparation of platelet rich plasma. In one aspect, provided herein are methods for isolation of platelets from blood. In certain embodiments, presented herein are methods for isolation of platelets from cord blood, e.g., human cord blood. The isolated platelets can be used for a variety of applications, including, for example, methods of wound healing, organ repair and/or regeneration, and/or tissue repair and/or regeneration, in either autologous or allogenic settings.

The disclosure provides processes for temperature and pressure controlled cryopreservation of samples by using isochoric systems.

The disclosure is a medical device system that applies pressure to biologic products in a container to inactivate pathogens (e.g., viruses, bacteria, including sepsis, fungi, parasites, prions, mold and other harmful microorganisms), or abnormal or damaged cells (e.g., cancer, carcinoma in situ, lipoproteins, lipids, antibodies), while preserving the desired cells and the efficacy of the biologic product (e.g., whole blood, plasma, red blood cells, platelets and cells derived from blood, bone marrow, stem cells, brain dura matter, bone graft, skin graft or other bodily sources, either allogeneic or autologous). The biologic product may be autologously sourced then processed and transfused or administered, or be allogeneicly sourced and then processed and transfused or administered.

A device for freezing adipose tissue comprises a first member and a second member which are mutually coupleable so as to obtain at least one closed configuration; the first member comprising at least one manual grip portion and at least one support portion to which the adipose tissue adheres; the second member comprising at least one housing wherein at least the support portion of the first member is insertable. The second member comprises at least one safety valve that comprises at least one separable portion adapted to detach, partially or completely, from the body of said second member in the case the pressure difference between the inside and the outside exceeds a predetermined value. The second member comprises retention means of the separable portion once it has detached. The detachment of the separable portion creates an opening in the second member, and a gap is defined for the discharge of the gases contained within the housing.

A lyophilization nest and method of using the same is described herein. In various embodiments, the lyophilization nest is configured to support one or more receptacles each supporting one or more substances within an interior space of the lyophilization nest. The interior space may be in fluid communication with the exterior of the lyophilization nest through one or more vent holes extending through a surface of the lyophilization nest. Each of the one or more vent holes have a corresponding sealing element configured to selectively form an air-tight seal within the vent holes, such that a controlled environment may be maintained within the interior space when the ambient conditions surrounding the lyophilization nest are not lyophilization conditions. The one or more sealing elements may be operable while the lyophilization nest is positioned within a sealed lyophilizer by depressing the sealing elements into corresponding vent holes to form the air-tight seal.

The invention relates to a freezing machine (150) for freezing samples, encompassing: a freezing device (140) for freezing a sample received in the freezing machine (150); a container (100) for receiving the frozen sample, having a reservoir (105) for liquid nitrogen; and a transfer apparatus for transferring the frozen sample from the freezing device (140) into the container (100), the container (100) comprising at least two receiving devices (104), separated from one another, each for at least one frozen sample; a selection apparatus being provided for selecting one of the receiving devices (104) for a frozen sample that is to be transferred into the container (100), the freezing machine (150) being configured to carry out the transfer of the frozen sample, by means of the transfer apparatus, into the respectively selected receiving device (104) of the container (100); and to a method for transferring frozen samples into a container provided therefor.

A high pressure freezing cartridge (300, 400, 500) for use in vitrification of a biological sample (10) is provided, the cartridge (300,400, 500) being adapted to fixedly hold a sample chamber (216, 218, 220) at a sample chamber position (320, 420, 520) in the cartridge (300, 400, 500), a refrigerant channel arrangement comprising at least one refrigerant channel (208, 308, 408, 462, 464, 466, 468, 508, 562, 564, 566, 569) being provided in the cartridge (300, 400, 500) and extending from a surface of the cartridge (300, 400, 500) to the sample chamber position, and the cartridge (300, 400, 500) comprising a baffle structure (350, 450, 550, 571) at a baffle position being adapted to interact with a refrigerant stream in the refrigerant channel arrangement before the refrigerant of the refrigerant stream reaches the sample chamber position in the cartridge (300, 400, 500). A corresponding method in which the high pressure freezing cartridge (300, 400, 500) is used is also part of the present disclosure.

An apparatus for maintaining the temperature of an article at a temperature that is below the ambient air temperature includes an enclosure having an outer wall that defines an interior chamber for holding a volume of sealed air. An insert is disposed inside of the chamber and has a body that is made of a porous graphite foam material. A vacuum pump penetrates the outer wall and fluidly connects the sealed air in the interior chamber with the ambient air outside of the enclosure. The temperatures of the insert and article is maintained at temperatures that are below the ambient air temperature when a volume of a liquid is wicked into the pores of the porous insert and the vacuum pump is activated to reduce the pressure of a volume of sealed air within the interior chamber to a pressure that is below the vapor pressure of the liquid.