Abstract
A scientific approach towards organ preservation was initiated by Alexis Carrel, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1904. Subsequently, cryopreservation of organs gained momentum in the 1950s. However, organ cryopreservation has long been considered impossible, because the cells in the organs suffer from substantial damage due to ice-crystal formation and generation of osmotic-pressure gradients in the tissue. Meanwhile, in gynecology, freezing techniques for sperms, ova, fertilized eggs, etc., have been developed to ensure retention of fertility. Cells and tissue fragments can be frozen with a high probability of success. Some studies on the clinical applications of these approaches in humans have been published. In this study, we tried to cryopreserve organs, and not the cells or tissues, by using a freezing technology that employed a variable magnetic field. This freezing technology was principally developed by a Japanese company engaged in the development of food-freezing technologies. The combination of different techniques, i.e., the integration of this freezing technology with our technique, Super-Microsurgery, is expected to expedite basic experimental research on cryopreservation of small organs, particularly reproductive organs, which was hitherto considered impossible.
