# US 2017/0257908 A1 · Systems, Devices, and Methods for Automated Sample Thawing

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- Number: US 2017/0257908 A1
- Document ID: US20170257908A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 15/602,711
- Filed: 2017-05-23
- Published: 2017-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2014-05-16
- Assignees: MedCision, Inc.
- Applicants: MedCision, LLC
- Inventors: Brian Schryver; David Shannon
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20170257908A1

## CPC

- H05B 1/025: {For medical applications}
- A01N 1/144: for temperature control, e.g. refrigerators or freeze-drying apparatus
- A01N 1/162: Temperature processes, e.g. following predefined temperature changes over time
- A47J 36/24: Warming devices
- A47J 36/2483: {with electrical heating means}
- A47J 36/32: Time-controlled igniting mechanisms or alarm devices
- B01L 7/00: Heating or cooling apparatus (autoclaves B01J3/04); Heat insulating devices
- G01K 3/10: in respect of time, e.g. reacting only to a quick change of temperature
- G01K 7/22: the element being a non-linear resistance, e.g. thermistor (G01K7/26 takes precedence)
- H05B: ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
- A01N: PRESERVATION OF BODIES OF HUMANS OR ANIMALS OR PLANTS OR PARTS THEREOF (preservation of food or foodstuff A23); BIOCIDES, e.g. AS DISINFECTANTS, AS PESTICIDES OR AS HERBICIDES (preparations for medical, dental or toiletry purposes which kill or prevent the growth or proliferation of unwanted organisms A61K); PEST REPELLANTS OR ATTRACTANTS; PLANT GROWTH REGULATORS
- A47J: KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
- B01L: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE
- G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00)

## Abstract

The present invention generally relates to thawing a cryogenically frozen sample. The systems, devices, and methods may be used to heat a sample holder, the sample holder configured to receive a sample container holding the frozen sample. A sample thaw start time may be identified by measuring a temperature of the sample container and/or a temperature of the sample. A sample thaw end time may be calculated as a function of the sample thaw start time. In some embodiments, the same thaw start time may be identified by a significant change in a first derivative of a warming curve of recorded temperature measurements. The sample end time may be calculated by adding a constant to the sample thaw start time. The constant may be the average sample thaw time per the sample container.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of thawing a sample within a vessel, the method comprising:
receiving a temperature data feed from one or more temperature sensors reporting an exterior surface temperature of the vessel at a location along the exterior surface of the vessel that is below a top level of a sample within the vessel;
calculating a thaw end time based on the temperature data feed received from the one or more temperature sensors; and
outputting a signal to interrupt thawing of the sample contained in the vessel at the calculated thaw time.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature data feed received from the sensor is used to calculate a timing event associated with a change in state from solid to liquid of the sample contained in the vessel, and calculating a thaw-end time based on the timing event.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature data feed received from the sensor is used to calculate the rate of temperature increase of the sample vessel, and calculating a thaw end time based on the rate of temperature increase.

### Claim 4

A method of thawing a sample within a vessel, the method comprising:
equilibrating the sample and vessel to an intermediate temperature, wherein the intermediate temperature is below a sample melting temperature;
contacting sides of the vessel with a solid material mass that is maintained at a thawing temperature, wherein the thawing temperature is greater than 5 degrees above the melting temperature of the sample plus or minus two degrees;
predicting a completion of a phase change of the sample contained in the vessel by calculating a time interval for a duration of the phase change based on the equilibrating temperature and the heating temperature;
outputting a signal to interrupt thawing of the sample contained in the vessel at the predicted completion of the phase change of the sample contained in the vessel.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the intermediate temperature is between −78 to −70 degrees Celcius.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the sample is equilibrated to the intermediate temperature range by placing the sample vessel into a receiving container that is in contact with solid carbon dioxide.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the receiving container and the solid carbon dioxide are surrounded on sides and a bottom by insulation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 wherein the intermediate temperature is between −196 to −180 degrees Celsius.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, wherein the sample is equilibrated to the intermediate temperature by placing the sample vessel into a receiving container that is in direct contact with liquid nitrogen.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the receiving container and the liquid nitrogen are surrounded on sides and a bottom by insulation.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising:
receiving a data feed from a temperature sensor measuring a temperature of the vessel such that a temperature signal reported by the temperature sensor is associated with a temperature of the vessel; and
adjusting the calculated time interval for the phase change duration based on the received temperature sensor data feed.

### Claim 12

A method for thawing a cryogenic sample in a sample container, the method comprising:
heating a sample container with a heater;
determining a thaw start time for the cryogenic sample;
determining an estimated thaw end time of the cryogenic sample based at least in-part on the determined thaw start time of the cryogenic sample.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising:
stopping the heating of the sample container with the heater after the estimated thaw end time.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising:
measuring a temperature of an outer surface of the sample container; and
recording the temperature measurements.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the step of determining a thaw start time of the cryogenic sample comprises identifying a significant change in a first derivative of a warming curve defined by the recorded temperature measurements.

### Claim 16 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the step of determining a thaw end time of the cryogenic sample comprises adding an average thaw time to the thaw start time.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the step of determining the thaw end time comprises accessing a library of average thaw times.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the library comprises average thaw times for a plurality of different container types.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of identifying the sample container type and accessing a library of average thaw times for the sample container type.

### Claim 20 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising providing a signal alert to a user based on the thaw end time.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The method of claim 20, wherein the signal alert is an audio and/or a visual alert.

### Claim 22 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising adjusting the thaw end time based on a sample container material.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The method of claim 22, further comprising adjusting the thaw end time based on a presence of a sample container label.

### Claim 24

A system for thawing a cryogenic sample in a sample container, the system comprising:
a sample holder coupled with a heater, the sample holder configured to receive the sample container;
one or more transducers for measuring at least a temperature of the sample container as the sample container is heated within the sample holder;
a processor coupled with the one or more transducers, the processor configured to:
determine a thaw start time of the sample based on the temperature of the sample container;
determine a thaw end time of the sample based on the thaw start time.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The system of claim 24, further comprising a user interface; and wherein the processor is further configured to provide an alert to a user via the user interface to signal the thaw end time of the sample.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The system of claim 25, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a user input, the user input comprising an average thaw time for the sample container.

### Claim 27 (depends on 26)

The system of claim 26, wherein the processor is configured to determine the thaw end time by adding the user inputted average thaw time to the thaw start time.

### Claim 28 (depends on 25)

The system of claim 25, further comprising a memory coupled with the processor, the memory including a library of average thaw times for a plurality of sample types.

### Claim 29 (depends on 28)

The system of claim 28, wherein the user interface is configured to receive a user input of the sample container type.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The system of claim 29, wherein the processor is configured to determine the thaw end time by accessing the library to identify the average thaw time corresponding to the user inputted sample container type and adding the identified average thaw time to the thaw start time.

### Claim 31 (depends on 24)

The system of claim 24, wherein the processor is configured to determine a thaw start time of the cryogenic sample by identifying a significant change in a first derivative of a warming curve defined by the recorded temperature measurements.

### Claim 32 (depends on 20)

The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more transducers comprises a infrared temperature sensor.