Thermal expansion measurements of frozen biological tissues at cryogenic temperatures.

Thermal expansion data are essential for analyses of cryodestruction associated with thermal stresses during cryopreservation protocols as well as during cryosurgery. The present study tests a commonly used hypothesis that the thermal expansion of frozen tissues is similar to that of pure water ice crystals. This study further provides insight into the potential effect of the presence of cryoprotectants on thermal expansion. A new apparatus for thermal strain measurements of frozen biological tissues within a cryogenic temperature range is presented. Results are presented for fresh tissue samples taken from beef muscle, chicken muscle, rabbit muscle, rabbit bone, and pig liver. Pilot studies of the effect of cryoprotectants on thermal expansion are further presented for rabbit muscle immersed in dimethyl sulphoxide (2 mols/l) and glycerol (2 mols/l), and for pig liver perfused with dimethyl sulphoxide (2 mols/l). Thermal expansion of frozen soft biological tissues was found to be similar to that of water ice crystals in the absence of cryoprotectant. Thermal expansion of the rabbit bone was found to be about one half of that of frozen soft tissues. A significant reduction in the thermal expansion at higher temperatures was observed in the presence of cryoprotectants. A rapid change of thermal strain near -100 degrees C was also observed, which is likely to be associated with the glass transition process of the cryoprotectant solutions.

[1]  Gross damage accumulation on frozen rabbit liver due to mechanical stress at cryogenic temperatures. , 1997, Cryobiology.

[2]  T. Julian,et al.  An experimental study of the mechanical response of frozen biological tissues at cryogenic temperatures. , 1996, Cryobiology.

[3]  Analysis of Thermal Stresses around a Cryosurgical Probe , 1996, Cryobiology.

[4]  P. Mehl.  Chapter 5 Crystallization and vitrification in aqueous glass-forming solutions , 1996 .

[5]  D. Gao,et al.  Fracture phenomena in an isotonic salt solution during freezing and their elimination using glycerol. , 1995, Cryobiology.

[6]  C. Hunt,et al.  Fractures in cryopreserved arteries. , 1994, Cryobiology.

[7]  B. Rubinsky,et al.  Mechanical interactions between ice crystals and red blood cells during directional solidification. , 1994, Cryobiology.

[8]  G M Fahy,et al.  Physical problems with the vitrification of large biological systems. , 1990, Cryobiology.

[9]  C. Angell,et al.  Crystallization and Vitrification in Cryoprotected Aqueous Systems , 1987 .

[10]  D. Macfarlane.  Physical aspects of vitrification in aqueous solutions , 1986 .

[11]  D A Whalen,et al.  Effect of varying freezing and thawing rates in experimental cryosurgery. , 1985, Cryobiology.

[12]  P. Mazur.  Freezing of living cells: mechanisms and implications. , 1984, The American journal of physiology.

[13]  G M Fahy,et al.  Vitrification as an approach to cryopreservation. , 1984, Cryobiology.

[14]  G. Fahy,et al.  Factors influencing renal cryopreservation. I. Effects of three vehicle solutions and the permeation kinetics of three cryoprotectants assessed with rabbit cortical slices. , 1984, Cryobiology.

[15]  B. Rubinsky,et al.  Thermal stresses in frozen organs. , 1979, Cryobiology.

[16]  M. Shlafer.  Drugs that modify cellular responses to low temperature (cryoprotectants): a pharmacological perspective of preserving biological systems by freezing. , 1977, Federation proceedings.

[17]  R. Miller,et al.  Survival of frozen-thawed human red cells as a function of cooling and warming velocities. , 1976, Cryobiology.

[18]  H. Meryman.  Freezing injury and its prevention in living cells. , 1974, Annual review of biophysics and bioengineering.

[19]  Neville H Fletcher,et al.  The Chemical Physics of Ice , 1970 .

[20]  D. Rasmussen,et al.  Study by differential thermal analysis of the temperatures of instability of rapidly cooled solutions of glycerol, ethylene glycol, sucrose and glucose. , 1968, Biodynamica.

[21]  Peter Mazur,et al.  Kinetics of Water Loss from Cells at Subzero Temperatures and the Likelihood of Intracellular Freezing , 1963, The Journal of general physiology.

[22]  G. Dantl.  Thermal expansion of H2O and D2O single crystals , 1962 .

[23]  G. Dantl.  Wärmeausdehnung von H2O- und D2O-Einkristallen , 1962 .

[24]  J. H. Weiner,et al.  Theory of Thermal Stresses , 1961 .

[25]  R. Powell.  Thermal conductivities and expansion coefficients of water and ice , 1958 .