The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 05, 1993
Filed:
Mar. 18, 1991
Daniel D Richard, Sedona, AZ (US);
Cryo-Cell International, Inc., Baldwin, NY (US);
Abstract
A method used in low temperature storage of biological specimens comprises the steps of (a) maintaining a multiplicity of biological specimens within a predetermined low temperature range in a cryogenic storage unit, (b) selecting at least one biological specimen for removal from the storage unit, (c) determining a respective thaw period and thaw rate for the selected specimen, (d) automatically retrieving the selected specimen from the storage unit at removal time in accordance with the respective determined thaw period, and (e) automatically thawing the selected specimen at the respective thaw rate. An associated thawing system comprises a storage unit for maintaining a plurality of biological specimens within a predetermined low temperature range, a plurality of thawing chambers, and a heat exchange assembly for implementing a temperature change in each of the chambers independently of temperature changes in the other chambers. A servomechanism is provided for retrieving selected specimens from the storage unit and transfering the retrieved specimens to respective thawing chambers, while a control unit is operatively connected to the heat exchange assembly and the servomechanism for operating the heat exchange assembly to control rates of temperature changes in the thawing chambers and for activating the servomechanism to transfer the selected specimens from the storage unit to the respective chambers.