Dry Heat Thawing of Biological Substances

Abstract

A device for dry thawing biological substances and methods for using the same are provided. The dry thawing device can be configured to receive a biological substance within a woven pocket. The woven pocket can include temperature sensors configured to measure a temperature of the interior volume and heating elements configured to heat an interior of the woven pocket 106 based upon the measured temperature to avoid overheating or underheating the biological substance during thawing. The woven pocket can also include mechanical vibrators configured to agitate the biological substance during thawing to achieve an approximately homogeneous temperature profile within the woven pocket.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dry thawing device, comprising:
 a woven pocket having an inner volume dimensioned to receive a biological substance, the woven pocket including one or more temperature sensors configured for thermal communication with a biological substance received within the woven pocket, and one or more heating elements configured to supply heat to the inner volume based upon temperature measurements acquired by one or more of the temperature sensors.   
     
     
         2 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from one or more electrically conductive fibers interwoven with one or more electrically insulating fibers, the heating elements comprising the electrically conductive fibers. 
     
     
         3 . The dry thawing device of  claim 2 , wherein the electrically conductive fibers are formed from a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material. 
     
     
         4 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from electrically insulating fibers and the heating element is positioned on an outer surface of an enclosure containing the biological substance. 
     
     
         5 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from electrically insulating fibers and the heating element is positioned on an inner surface of the inner volume of the woven pocket. 
     
     
         6 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more mechanical vibrators in mechanical communication with the woven pocket. 
     
     
         7 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , further comprising a frame having an aperture formed therein, the woven pocket being disposed within the aperture and an open end of the woven pocket being coupled to the frame. 
     
     
         8 . The dry thawing device of  claim 7 , further comprising an electrical interface mounted to the frame and electrically coupled with the heating element and the one or more temperature sensors. 
     
     
         9 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , further comprising a liquid-resistant coating lining an inner surface of the woven pocket. 
     
     
         10 . The dry thawing device of  claim 1 , further comprising an adaptor positioned within the inner volume and having one or more chambers, wherein the adaptor is configured to conduct heat generated by the heating elements to a vessel containing a biological substance that is received within a chamber. 
     
     
         11 . A system for dry thawing a biological substance, comprising:
 a dry thawing device having a woven pocket configured to receive a biological substance and to deliver heat to a biological substance received therein in response to one or more commands received at a first electrical interface of the dry thawing device;   a rigid housing dimensioned to enclose the dry thawing device therein and include a second electrical interface configured to engage the first electrical interface for delivering the one or more commands to the dry thawing device.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the dry thawing device includes one or more heating elements integrated into the woven pocket for delivering heat to a biological substance received therein in response to the one or more commands. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the dry thawing device further comprises one or more temperature sensors configured to acquire one or more temperature measurements of a biological substance received therein and communicate the acquired temperature measurements to the first electrical interface. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more commands are based upon the acquired temperature measurements. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a computing device in communication with the second electrical interface, wherein the computing device is configured to receive the acquired temperature measurements and generate the one or more commands based upon a difference between the acquired temperature measurements and a pre-defined temperature set point. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the dry thawing device further comprises one or more mechanical vibrators configured to agitate a biological substance received within the woven pocket in response to the one or more commands. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the dry thawing device further includes a rigid frame coupled to the woven pocket and wherein the first electrical connector is mounted to the frame. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the housing is configured to support at least a portion of the dry thawing device at the frame. 
     
     
         19 . A method for dry thawing a biological substance, comprising:
 activating a dry thawing device having biological substance disposed in an inner volume of a woven pocket to cause heat to be delivered at a first temperature to the biological substance, wherein a temperature sensor obtains a temperature measurement of the biological substance and causes the woven pocket to deliver heat to the biological substance at a second temperature different from the first temperature to thereby control heating of the biological substance.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from one or more electrically conductive fibers interwoven with a one or more electrically insulating fibers. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein delivering heat to the biological substance comprises resistively heating the electrically conductive fibers. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the electrically conductive fibers are formed from a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from electrically insulating fibers and delivering heat to the biological substance comprises resistive heating of one or more electrically conductive fibers printed on an outer surface of an enclosure containing the biological substance. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the woven pocket is formed from electrically insulating fibers and delivering heat to the biological substance comprises resistive heating of one or more electrically conductive fibers printed on an inner surface of the inner volume of the woven pocket. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising vibrating the woven pocket to cause heat delivered to the biological substance to distribute approximately uniformly therein. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein at least a portion of the vibrations are generated by one or more mechanical vibrators in mechanical communication with the woven pocket. 
     
     
         27 . The method  claim 19 , wherein the woven pocket is disposed within an aperture of a frame and an open end of the woven pocket is coupled to the frame. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the woven pocket delivers heat to the biological substance in response to signals received via an electrical interface mounted to the frame. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising thermally insulating the temperature sensor from the heating element.