Minimally invasive micro-fabricated sensor for accurate measurement of thermal properties of biomaterials and solutions

Abstract

Accurate measurement of thermal properties of biomaterials is very important in predicting the optimum cooling rate; which influences largely the survival rate of tissues during freezing and thawing. But the current methods compromise either on the accuracy or the ability to accommodate different sample size. Hence we introduce a micro thermal sensor with superior features: excellent data repeatability, accuracy, compatibility, mass produce and reduced calibration efforts to measure thermal properties of bio-samples. We present two variants of the sensor: a single probe and a multi-probe; with the latter having promising innovative application in detecting thermal boundaries of tissues using their conductivities. The micro sensor has been utilized to measure thermal properties of pure DMSO, Ethylene glycol, Glycerol and commonly used CPA solution mixtures: 10 % (V/V) DMSO, 1.5 M Ethylene glycol, 1.5 M Glycerol and 40% (W/V) Glycerol, all in 0.9% (W/V) aqueous Nacl.