X-Message-Number: 2540
From: "Micheal B. O'Neal" <>
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 1994 11:55:05 -0600
Subject: CRYONICS  Re: Cryopreservation Protocol for BioPreservation Clients


I would like to thank Mike Darwin for making the BPI suspension 
protocol available to the net.  The document appears very thorough, 
which I appreciate -- even if I don't have the background to follow 
all of the details. 

Since I believe the copy being circulated is a working draft, I 
have included below some unsolicited comments / suggestions.

First, I believe the document would be easier to follow if an overall 
time line of the major activities (pronouncement, initial cardiopulmonary 
support, total body washout, transport, introduction of cryoprotectants, 
cephalic isolation, and cooling to dry ice temperature) were summarized 
in a chart or table at the beginning of the document.  In addition
to acquainting the reader with the procedure, such a chart could firmly 
establish the order, time of initiation, and duration of each of the 
major tasks.  

This time line is not easy to reconstruct directly from the document.  
For example, Mike reports that death occurred at 17:47 on June 9th and 
cooling to -77*C was completed at 16:00 on June 11th.  Did the process 
really take two days? or is that a typo that should read June 10th?  
Since some times are reported with dates and others are not, and I have 
no feel for how long some of these procedures should take, I really 
wasn't sure.

A second matter that concerned me to some degree was the "case history"
approach to presenting the suspension protocol.  Especially since Mike 
stated that "The actual case history has been modified ... to bring it 
into line with the advances in technique now employed by BPI."  While 
it is quite reassuring to see the level of technical competence and 
detailed collection of data that is expected to take place in BPI 
suspensions, and certainly, using a case history allowed Mike to do 
this; it is difficult or impossible to tell which aspects of the account 
are fictionalized and which actually took place.  For example, is all of 
the patient data "real", or are these simply illustrative of the type of 
results BPI expects?  It could be that the changes Mike made to the 
patient history were very minor, but even the suggestion that data may 
have been modified in a quasi-scientific document makes me very nervous.

Perhaps Mike could see fit to modify the document so that it first 
presents the BPI suspension protocol without reference to any particular 
patient.  The protocol could then be followed by a "composite / 
fictionalized" case history which would illustrate the type of expected
results.  This case history could be replaced with an actual case 
history as soon as one becomes available.

Again, thanks to Mike Darwin for releasing the BPI suspension protocol to 
CryoNet / sci.cryonics.

Mike O'Neal

Micheal B. O'Neal                           Louisiana Tech University
                        Department of Computer Science
                                            Ruston, Louisiana   71272

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2540