Perfecting Cryopreservation VIA Freeze™

For most cell production processes, the highest combined technical and financial risk occurs during the cryopreservation phase.
At rates of cooling slower than the optimum, cell death is associated with long periods of exposure to hypertonic conditions – essentially the cells become “pickled”. As the rate of cooling is increased the exposure time to hypertonic conditions is reduced and damage due to this stress component is minimised. Perfecting　Cryopreservation　VIA FreezeBut there is less time available for osmotic shrinkage and cryoprotectant to enter the cells or water to leave the cells. At rates of cooling faster than the optimum, cell death is associated with intracellular ice formation. The optimum rate of cooling may be considered to be the fastest rate at which intracellular ice formation does not occur.

Features
Application example
FAQs
Specification

Features of Perfecting Cryopreservation VIA Freeze™

Clean room compatible

Minimal dirt traps, no oxygen depletion issues, does not contaminate air, quiet and simple to operate.

GMP ready

Calibration certificate, IQ and OQ documentation available.

Liquid nitrogen-free

Powered by Stirling Cryocooler engines. Only regular mains electricity required, avoiding the cost and time to implement a liquid nitrogen infrastructure.

High sample uniformity

Optimised thermal design ensures accurate control of cooling rates and minimal sample-to-sample, batch-to-batch and freezer-to-freezer variation.

Intuitive user interface

Touch screen control unit
Protocol creation and editing
Real-time monitoring
Data export in PDF and CSV formats
User Access Control, event logging.
Designed to 21CFR part 11

Cryo-chamber

The user friendly cold chamber has been designed to facilitate easy loading and unloading of samples as well as being optimised for heat transfer.

SBS plates

Similarly to the standardised user interface and software architecture, all VIA FreezeTM models use common SBS formats; quick release magnetically coupled sample holders for simple removal and sterilisation.

Performance

Below we see the typical behaviour for a VIA FreezeTM protocol; in section 1, the system cools samples the point of nucleation, where we see a spike in section 2 before returning to a cooling rate of -1℃ per minute through section 3 and finally tapering off to hold at -100℃.

Application example：For freezing and thawing process of CAR-T therapy

FAQs

How does the VIA Freeze™ work?: VIA Freeze™ range is based on the use of Stirling cryocoolers to cool the samples, utilising the Stirling Cycle. More precisely, we use a Free Piston Stirling Cooler which is a completely sealed heat transfer system. It only has two moving parts (a piston and displacer) which uses helium as the working fluid.
The piston is driven by an oscillating magnetic field that powers the refrigeration cycle. The magnetic drive allows the piston to be driven without requiring any seals, gaskets, O-rings, or other compromises to the hermetically sealed system. This allows the cooler to be very quiet and extremely reliable. The reliability of these engines is best demonstrated by their use in long range space missions (such as NASA’s RHESSI satellite) and Combined Heat and Power systems.

Are there constraints on formats that can be used in the system?: We have successfully used bags, vials and straws from numerous manufacturers. If your packaging can fit in the cryo-chamber, we can make a custom SBS plate to interface with it. Please contact Asymptote for more details.

What is involved to change configurations between vials and bags, different sized bags, etc.?: See figure on Specification pages under adaptor plate fitting. When using a bag, it is possible to add provision of QA vials to be cryopreserved. QA vials will match the cooling rates experienced by the bag.

Does the VIA Freeze™ support manual nucleation?: Yes, although combinations depend on system being used. Contact us for more information.

Can the VIA Freeze™ be run overnight?: Yes, it can be run overnight; a run can be started at the end of the day and samples retrieved the following morning.

How quickly can a run be started after a previous run has finished?: The VIA Freeze™ is actively and automatically heated to return to ambient and dry the system, typically within 60 minutes. This can be accelerated on request.

Can bags and vials be frozen simultaneously? Can you have different cooling profiles on different plates?: Bags and vials can be frozen simultaneously, combinations depend on the system being used, however each system can only run one cooling profile at a time.

What are the cooling rate specifications at maximum volume?: The VIA Freeze™ systems will cool at -1℃ per min to -70℃ with an ambient temperature of 18℃. The base temperature of the systems is -100℃.

Is the temperature control similar or different than LN2 CRF?: We control the temperature of the cryoplate using a proprietary software algorithm based on PID with an advanced feed forward component. Due to the heat conduction method of cooling we employ, this has much better control vial to vial and batch to batch than a liquid nitrogen based system.

Are there any consumables/regular maintenance costs for the freezer?: Very little; yearly calibration and service is recommended and signing up to a service contract will allow the end user to buy an extended warranty during the service period. The thermal transfer pad may need changing occasionally, this will depend on the end users’ cleaning regime and usage.

Can you freeze larger batches?: It is possible to control numerous ‘Slave’ systems from one ‘Master’ control unit, enabling a single batch process.

Is the VIA Freeze™ a stand alone instrument or does it need to be plugged into another computer?: The VIA Freeze™ range is completely autonomous and runs a Linux operating system in the background for security and reliability. The VIA FreezeTM is controlled via a bespoke, easy to use touch screen user interface as shown elsewhere in this document. Remote control and monitoring is possible (with appropriate security settings applied by the administrator) from any computer, tablet or smartphone via a standard web based interface.