Nanowarming for Regenerative Medicine

 

Abstract:

This talk will explore the underlying physics and advantages of nanoparticle-based rewarming technologies for regenerative medicine. Gold and iron oxide nanoparticles have unique and tunable properties that allow transduction of optical or radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields to affect heating of biomaterials at multiple scales (1 μL droplets to L containers). Indeed, both nanoparticle types have a long history of use for controlled heating in the treatment of cancer. This talk will explore the use of nanoparticle heating for a new application entitled “nanowarming,” which allows both rapid and uniform rewarming of vitrified (i.e. cryopreserved) biomaterials back from the cryogenic state, thereby avoiding crystallization and cracking failures. This warming, which can range from 100s °C/min with iron oxide RF heating to 10,000,000 °C/min with laser gold warming addresses a rewarming technology bottleneck for vitrified large systems (e.g. tissues and organs) and small systems (e.g. embryos and oocytes). New capabilities in cell, tissue, and rodent organ cryopreservation, including the first robust drosophila embryo and zebrafish embryo cryopreservation methods yielding live and reproducing young, will be presented. In summary, this talk demonstrates the growing opportunities for nanoparticle heating in regenerative medicine.

 

Biography:

Dr. Bischof works in the area of thermal bioengineering with a focus on biopreservation, thermal therapy, and nanomedicine. His awards include the ASME Van Mow Medal and Fellowships in societies including Cryobiology, JSPS, ASME and AIMBE. He has served as the President of the Society for Cryobiology and Chair of the Bioengineering Division of the ASME. Bischof obtained a B.S. in Bioengineering from U.C. Berkeley (UCB) in 1987, an M.S. from UCB and U.C. San Francisco in 1989, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UCB in 1992. After a Post-doctoral Fellowship at Harvard in the Center for Engineering in Medicine, he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in 1993. Bischof is now a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Kuhrmeyer Chair in the Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, the Medtronic-Bakken Endowed Chair and Director of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine at the University of Minnesota, and Director of the new NSF Engineering Research Center ATP-Bio.