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Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 2:56 AM
Subject: [AlcorNews] Alcor News #28, July 18, 2004


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Alcor News Bulletin
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Number 28: July 18, 2004

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Authors This Issue:

Jennifer Chapman [JC], Joe Waynick [JW], Hugh Hixon [HH].

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In This Issue:


* Whole-Body Vitrification Experiment
* Personnel Improvements
* Legislative Initiative
* Membership Statistics
* Next Board Meeting

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Whole-Body Vitrification Experiment

While there is considerable interest in whole-body perfusion
with the latest cryoprotectant, we are presently unable to
provide this service because (among other reasons), our
perfusion equipment is inadequate to the task. The current
vitrification protocol requires that the second step of
perfusion be carried out at -4 degrees C. Since the
perfusion tubing is strung between the pump set and the
operating table, and the patient is also uninsulated, most
of the available cooling power is going to go to cooling the
room. Even the current setup with the neuro box requires
that liquid nitrogen be added to the heater-cooler to
perfuse at the lower temperatures. Furthermore, our
consultants suggest that future developments in
cryoprotectants may require even lower perfusion
temperatures, as low as -40 degrees C.

To deal with this problem without investing in major
refrigeration, Hugh Hixon proposed that cold nitrogen gas
from liquid nitrogen be used to cool the patient and the
perfusion equipment, enclosed within an insulated container.
To retain open access to the patient for the surgeons, the
container should be open (lidless), providing an
environmental system similar to supermarket coffin freezers
you reach down into without having to open a lid. These
containers work by circulating a laminar layer of cold air
over the freezer contents, and depend on the fact that cold
air sinks down into the container and covers the contents
rather than rising. They typically run below -30 degrees C.

An initial prototype was constructed to test the
stratification system. (The next issue of _Cryonics_
magazine contains an article on intermediate temperature
storage development, and discusses stratification problems.
See it for more information.)

The location of the temperature sensor has a lot of effect
on the box's interior temperature, which was no surprise.
With the sensor in the inlet to the box and the controller
set for -4 degrees C, the inlet temperature swung in the
interval -5 to -7, and the outlet temperature varied from
+0.3 to -0.7 degrees C. With the sensor at the box outlet
(involving a longer-delay feedback loop), the inlet swung
from -10 to -20 degrees C, and the outlet temperature was
from -5 to -10. (Note: most of the cooling of the patient
will be done through the extracorporeal circuit rather than
the cold gas in the box.)

A manually triggered injection of liquid nitrogen took the
inlet temperature below -100 degrees C, and the outlet
temperature below -44. Liquid nitrogen was on continuously
for the period in question (~15 minutes). A few minutes
after the nitrogen injection was shut off, the system
equilibrated to about -35 degrees C. A rod of ice set
upright in the box melted down to the level of the edge of
the box after about 4 hours, and after 30 hours, only melted
less than an additional inch.

The prototype shows that a low-temperature perfusion
environment can be maintained while providing full surgical
access to the patient in a shirtsleeve outside environment;
and if pushed, it can get to much lower temperatures. With a
suitable adapter, it may also be capable of replacing the
dry-ice cooling box. [HH]

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Personnel Improvements

Alcor has entered into a new three year agreement with
Emergency Educational Institute, Inc (EEI) to provide
standby and transport response teams for the east coast.
Each standby and transport operation will be staffed with at
least any two of the following: a licensed EMT, licensed
Paramedic, or a licensed nurse. Furthermore, two additional
team members will be certified medical professionals, for a
minimum of four participants. Alcor will dispatch one or
more individuals from Alcor Central or from one of the
Regional field teams to observe and assist in the transport.
Therefore, a five- to six-person team will staff each remote
case.

We are also happy to report that Todd Huffman has executed a
one-year agreement with Alcor to continue providing his
expertise in assembling all the necessary data and compiling
it into a well-documented case report for past cases that
have not been previously published. In addition, we are in
serious discussions with the appropriate officials from
Arizona State University to engage several of their graduate
students in relevant research departments to assist in
wiping out our backlog of case reports. Gaining the
assistance of a major state university will enhance our
credibility with academic, scientific, and political groups.
[JW]

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Legislative Initiative

Meetings have been tentatively set up with relevant
stakeholders in preparation for the next legislative
session. Our objective is to attempt to obtain consensus on
the need or lack of need for regulation and establish
support among the stakeholders for the consensus position.
We believe that entering the next legislative session with
support in place with "reasonable" solutions to the issues
expressed in the previous session will strengthen our
ability to ensure harmful legislation is not passed by the
Arizona legislature. [JW]

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Membership Statistics

On June 30, 2004 Alcor had 667 members on its Emergency
Responsibility List. (Alcor members, as a condition of
membership, execute funding contracts for cryopreservation
and thus are covered by Alcor's emergency response system.)
Seven (7) memberships were approved during this month, zero
(0) memberships were reinstated or cancelled and zero (0)
members were cryopreserved. Overall, there was a net gain of
seven (7) members this month. Alcor had 121 applicants for
membership. With a month-end total of 124 the previous
month, there was a net loss of three (3) applicants. [JC]

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Next Board Meeting

The next Board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, August 7,
2004 at 11:00 AM (PST), also 11:00 AM local Arizona time.

Board meetings are held on the first Saturday of the month
at the Alcor facility (7895 East Acoma Drive in Scottsdale,
AZ). Members (and the general public) are encouraged to
attend.

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End of Alcor News bulletin #28 dated July 18, 2004.
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