Scientists have found a way to rapidly thaw cryopreserved tissue without damage

Researchers have developed a technique that allows them to rapidly thaw cryopreserved human and pig samples without damaging the tissue - a development that could help get rid of organ transplant waiting lists.

Instead of using convection, the team used nanoparticles to heat tissues at the same rate all at once, which means ice crystals can't form, so they don't get damaged.

Manuchehrabadi et al., Science Translational Medicine (2017)

To do this, the researchers mixed silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles into a solution and generated uniform heat by applying an external magnetic field.

They then warmed up several human and pig tissue samples ranging between 1 and 50 mL, using either their new nanowarming technique and traditional slow warming over ice.

Each time, the tissues warmed up with nanoparticles displayed no signs of harm, unlike the control samples.

Afterwards, they were able to successfully wash the nanoparticles away from the sample after thawing.

The research has been published in Science Translational Medicine