Systems, Devices, and Methods for Automated Sample Thawing
First Claim
1. A device for the conversion from a solid state to liquid state of a sample contained in a vessel, the device comprising:
- a pliable solid material forming a receptacle for receiving the vessel;
a heater for heating the pliable solid material to a temperature higher than a melting point of the sample;
wherein the pliable solid material is interposed between the vessel and a non-pliable solid material, when the vessel is received within the receptacle formed by the pliable solid material.
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Accused Products
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.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A device for the conversion from a solid state to liquid state of a sample contained in a vessel, the device comprising:
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a pliable solid material forming a receptacle for receiving the vessel; a heater for heating the pliable solid material to a temperature higher than a melting point of the sample; wherein the pliable solid material is interposed between the vessel and a non-pliable solid material, when the vessel is received within the receptacle formed by the pliable solid material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of thawing a sample within a vessel, the method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A method of thawing a sample within a vessel, the method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for thawing a cryogenic sample in a sample container, the method comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 46)
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38. A system for thawing a cryogenic sample in a sample container, the system comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification