Vitrification and rewarming assemblies and methods

A vitrification and rewarming assembly for cryopreserving and rewarming a biological sample, the vitrification and rewarming assembly comprising

• a frame,
• a pair of vertically oriented, horizontally opposed cold plates disposed within the frame,
• a cold plate actuator coupled to the pair of cold plates and configured to control a distance between the pair of cold plates,
• a lift assembly configured to retain and raise and lower the biological sample between the pair of cold plates,
• a liquid nitrogen reservoir disposed below and around a bottom portion each of the pair of cold plates for cooling the pair of cold plates and the biological sample,
• a heater thermally coupled to the pair of cold plates and operable for warming the pair of cold plates and the biological sample during a rewarming process, and
• a control system configured to operate the cold plate actuator and monitor a temperature of the pair of cold plates and the biological sample via at least one thermocouple.

A rewarming assembly for rewarming a cryopreserved biological sample, the rewarming assembly comprising

• a frame,
• a pair of vertically oriented, horizontally opposed plates disposed within the frame,
• a plate actuator coupled to the pair of cold plates and configured to control a distance between the pair of plates,
• a lift assembly configured to retain and raise and lower the biological sample between the pair of plates,
• a heater thermally coupled to the pair of plates and operable for warming the pair of plates and the biological sample during a rewarming process, and
• a control system configured to operate the plate actuator and monitor a temperature of the pair of plates and the biological sample via at least one thermocouple.