Abstract of Talk by Linda Hayes

Applications of Freezing in Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Linda Hayes
Aerospace Engineering Dept
Campus Mail Code C0600
U Texas Austin
Austin, Texas 78712
lhayes@mail.utexas.edu

Office Telephone Number:

512-471-4208
512-471-2125

Fax Number:

512-475-8663

Electronic Mail Address:

lhayes@mail.utexas.edu

Cryosurgery and cryopreservation of human tissues are research areas with important ramifications for the field of modern medicine. Successful destruction of target tissue and successful preservation of tissue at low temperatures requires sophisticated freezing and thawing protocols. The first step in the development of these protocols is a proper understanding of the process of tissue freezing. In freezing tissue, there are three regimes of interest, an unfrozen zone, a frozen zone and a mushy zone consisting of both frozen and unfrozen phases. It is in this mushy zone that the critical interactions occur between the freeze front and the living cells and in which the ultimate survival or destruction of the cell is determined.


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