Spatiotemporal Deformation of Engineered Tissue During Freezing

A reliable long-term preservation technology is highly desired to provide “off-the-shelf” availability of various engineered tissues (ETs). Among the existing preservation techniques, cryopreservation, which is preserving biomaterials in the frozen state, remains the primary candidate for long-term storage of ETs. One of the most significant challenges in cryopreservation is the lack of consistency in maintaining the functionality of ETs [1]. Since the functionality is closely related to the microstructural integrity of extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular viability, the ECM microstructure should be maintained as well as the viability of cells [2, 3].