Cool Future

By Liz Hammond

            Death is cold.  No, really cold for the persons in cryostatic suspension – about 320 degrees below zero in liquid nitrogen.  Although it sounds like science fiction, preserving human bodies in a frozen state (known as "cryonics") for resuscitation, or reanimation at a later date, is a reality for the people at The Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Ariz.  In existence since the early 1970s, Alcor is the largest leading cryonics organization in the world and has dozens of patients in their facility.

            The branch of physics studying the effects of low temperatures known as "cryogenics" has been around for a long time, and covers everything from space technology to food.  However, "cryonics" is a term applied specifically to the practice of freezing a dead, diseased human body with hopes of reviving that person when science has found a cure for their ailment.

            Alcor and other organizations feel that a "life without limits" is a possibility for those who are critically ill.  That life, however, may be in the distant future.  By becoming a member of Alcor, individuals are assured that preservation techniques called will be applied to them at the time of their death.

            First, at the moment a person is declared legally dead, a medical team from Alcor begins the procedure of lowering the body temperature by replacing the blood with a cooled preservative solution injected through the vascular or blood system and by holding them in an ice bath.  This brings the body temperature to just above freezing.  The patient is then ready for relocation to the Alcor facility.

            Next, glycerol, a protective agent that replaces most of the water,  is circulated from the heart through the vessels to the tissues.  Glycerol has a much lower freezing point than water, which could freeze and damage cells at the temperatures used in cryonics suspension.

            In the final stage,  the body is sealed in a "dewar," a large thermos flask resembling a milk tank. The container is filled with liquid nitrogen at a temperature of 320 degrees below zero, low enough to halt further organic activity in the body.  Diseases can no longer progress and the normal deterioration associated with death does not take place.

Liquid nitrogen will remain cold indefinitely if properly insulated and sealed.  This eliminates the risk of power failures or the need for refrigeration equipment – they simply add more nitrogen from time to time.

            There are several companies that offer cryonics services, such as Trans Time, Inc. in Leandro, Calif., and Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, Michigan.  Cryonics Institute was begun by Robert Ettinger, the author of "The Prospect of Immortality."  Published in 1962, the book is considered the foundation of cryonics ideas.

Techniques for preparation of the patient for cryostasis vary as does the cost, which ranges from $28,000 to $150,000.  Some companies rely on "mortuary" techniques, which introduce the cryoprotectorants through a femoral artery in the groin area and is deemed by some as less medically advantageous.  There is much debate as to which approaches are best, although all companies ultimately use a liquid nitrogen storage.

            Pricing may also vary depending on whether a person desires a whole body treatment or a neurosuspension, the preservation of the brain or head only.  Neurosuspension may be preferred because it costs less or because the rest of the body is too damaged for any hope of revival.  Surprisingly, insurance policies are a legal way to pay for cryonics suspension but the cryonics company must be designated as the irrevocable beneficiary.

            Several hundred people have signed up cryonics suspension without knowing for sure if they can be revived.  Currently, there is no technology that can guarantee bringing a person back to life.  However, many supporters feel there are promising possibilities in the works.

            Cryonics' biggest hurdle is cellular damage, which it hopes to overcome with "nanotechnology," the construction of microscopic, self-replicating robots who act as tiny repair machines.  In theory, these machines could be injected into the reanimated body to repair tissue and disease.  Research and development are being done in the field of nanotechnology, but estimates for that level of sophistication are in the distant future.

            Cryonics also looks to cloning as a supportive science.  If a person's body is too damaged or diseased to function, then perhaps a cloned body could be made to be integrated with their preserved brain.

            Cryonics suspension of a human body is a controversial idea.  Only time will tell if it is a valid science.

Freezing of biological material has been successful in the area of fertility treatment.  For more than 50 years, animal sperm have been frozen and thawed for cattle breeding.  Since the early 1970s human sperm have also been frozen without significant loss of viability.

            "Human sperm have been frozen for up to 15 years and successfully thawed," said Joni Stehlik, a Franklin resident and an embryologist for the Advanced Institute of Fertility in Milwaukee.  She and her husband, Ed, work at the institute's In-Vitro Fertilization Lab at St. Luke's Hospital.

            "We are continuing to do research on freezing embryos and eggs," she said.

The process for freezing embryos is similar to that used in cryonics.  They must be frozen at a slow rate and glycerol or propaniol is used as a protectorant to replace the water.  At only 100-200 microns in size, the embryos frozen are usually less than 150 cells.

            "For embryos, we do a quick thaw, using the property of osmolarity to exchange the water back through the cell membranes," Stehlik said.  About 85 percent of embryos survive the thawing process and are implanted for in-vitro fertilization with about 65 percent resulting in full-term pregnancies.  Stehlik proposed that embryos are easier to freeze and thaw than a human organ due to their simple, homogeneous cells.

            "With multiple types of specialized cells in an organ, it's difficult to find one cryoprotectorant that will work on all the cells," she said.

            The freezing of the human egg or oocyte is also being researched at the Advanced Institute of Fertility.  Eggs appear to be more sensitive to the process but it is hoped that someday there can be "egg banks" so a woman can preserve young, healthy eggs until she is ready to have children, or to avoid damaging eggs during treatment for a serious illness.

            Another medical use for freezing is for cancer surgery, known as cryosurgery or cryoablation.  The freezing of warts and moles on the skin is a technique that has been used by dermatologists for 50 years.  Yet, the use of freezing as a cancer treatment is relatively new, said Dr. Edward J. Quebbeman, professor of surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

            "Cryosurgery has been used to treat liver tumors since about 1993," Quebbeman said.  He is one of the nation's leading researchers and practitioners of cryotherapy for cancer.

            During cryosurgery, a probe is inserted into the liver tumor and frozen with liquid nitrogen, creating an "iceball" of destroyed cancer cells.  The frozen tumor eventually melts and is absorbed into the body.

            "Cryosurgery allows us to target more inaccessible tumors than traditional surgery," Quebbeman said.  "It also reduces the amount of normal liver tissue that might be lost during a resection."

            Quebbeman cautions that cryosurgery is not appropriate for all types of cancer or all patients.  He also stresses that cryotherapy is just one more technique that can be used together with other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or lasers.

            "The controversy over cryotherapy is, does it contribute to a longer life? Does it make a difference?" he said.  "In some patients, cryotherapy prolongs life longer than just chemotherapy – but, they have to work together."

            Cryogenics is also finding a place in industry.  Jim Murphy, spokesperson for American Cryogenics, Inc., an international leader in using cold temperatures for metallurgical tempering, headquartered in Waukesha, said that using a cold process on metals is still relatively new – only about 10 years in use – while heat strengthening of metals has been around for centuries.

            "In cryogenic processing, a metal part is cooled in one of our units at the rate of 1 to 2 degrees per minute to a low of minus 300 degrees (Fahrenheit)," Murphy said.  "It's then held at that temperature for 24 to 48 hours.  We slowing ramp it back up to room temperature, then up to plus 350 degrees to complete the process."  The cold process is used after a traditional heat treatment of tool steel and high alloy steels.

            The result of cryogenic processing of metals – everything from tiny gears and pins to several thousand pounds engine parts – is a metal that lasts up to four times longer than just heat treated metals.

            "Research is still being done," Murphy said, "and we're not completely sure why it works so well, but we suspect several reasons."  Much of the impetus for research logically came about through the space program where interest lay in designing equipment that could withstand the cold of deep space.

            Freezing at deep temperatures does at least two things to metals: It extends the life of the part and gives it "dimensional stability," affecting the crystalline structure at the atomic level.  Surface stress is also improved.

            "One of the most popular uses in England for the cryogenic process is on engine components for Formula One racing cars," Murphy said.  However, confidentiality of clients is strictly kept.

            Many applications for cryogenics are only now being realized and there is still much to understand about how cold temperatures affect the human body and other elements.  Maybe those persons in cryonics suspension today will live to see those answers in the future.

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