CAREER: Long-term Cryopreservation of Organs by Electromagnetic Waves-Facilitated Vitrification and Rewarming

Many deaths in the U.S. each year are attributed to end-stage organ failure. Organ replacement could prevent many of these deaths. However, many patients added to transplant waiting lists do not receive organ transplants. There is a shortage of organ donors, and many organs are discarded because they cannot be preserved for more than a few hours. Long-term preservation requires storage at very low temperatures. Tissue damage can occur during cooling and rewarming because of ice formation among other issues. An alternative approach is vitrification, which preserves samples in a gel-like state. This CAREER project will develop new technologies for organ vitrification by applying electromagnetic waves to suppress ice formation and avoid thermomechanical stress fractures. A combination of experimental and theoretical studies will lead to an effective vitrification strategy that overcomes problems associated with preservation at low temperatures. The CAREER project will provide opportunities for students to participate in the research. The research team will conduct outreach to K-12 schools, community colleges and local communities in collaboration with the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. These efforts will empower young talent in STEM fields and promote public understanding of challenging problems in biomedical engineering. Long-term cryopreservation and biobanking of human organs can address the severe organ shortage crisis in transplantation and save the lives of millions of patients with organ failure each year. Owing to the complexity and large size of most organs, vitrification remains the most promising approach for achieving long-term organ cryopreservation. However, organ vitrification remains an unsolved problem due to grand challenges, including crystallization and devitrification during cooling and rewarming, cytotoxicity associated with highly concentrated vitrification solutions, and thermomechanical stresses that lead to fractures and damage, particularly during rewarming. This CAREER project will overcome longstanding barriers and establish technologies for organ cryopreservation through three objectives: (1) investigating the fundamental quantum physics underlying vitrification which include electromagnetic field interactions, and dielectric polarization and relaxation in multiscale biological systems; (2) advancing technologies that synergistically utilize single-mode electromagnetic resonance and cryoprotective agents to suppress ice formation for vitrification, and (3) integrating the resulting technologies and assessing their effectiveness through vitrification and rewarming of a rabbit kidney model. Outcomes will result in long-term organ preservation that substantially increases the availability of transplant organs and benefits fields including bioconservation, food preservation, and biobanking. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.