Thawing biological material using a sealed liquid bladder

1. An apparatus for thawing frozen material in a container comprising:

A) a housing for receiving the container of frozen material;

B) a sealed fluid-filled bladder contained within the housing for thermally communicating with the container of frozen material;

C) an agitator in the housing for causing movement of the fluid-filled bladder and the container of frozen material communicating with the bladder, wherein the agitator comprises an inflatable and deflatable actuator pillow communicating with the sealed bladder to effect movement of the bladder to thereby move the container of frozen material in communication with the bladder; and

D) a heater positioned within the housing external of the bladder to heat the fluid in the fluid-filled bladder while the fluid is contained within the sealed bladder to thaw the frozen material in the container.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the actuator pillow includes at least two pillow members that are inflatable and deflatable to effect movement of different areas of the bladder.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the pillow members are inflatable and deflatable in a selected sequence relative to one another to effect sequential movement of different areas of the bladder.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the pillow members are inflated and deflated to effect a cyclical type motion of the container of frozen material in communication with the bladder.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 , comprising a controller operable to monitor and adjust the movement of the actuator pillow.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the pillow members are disposed at different positions beneath the bladder.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the pillow members are separate from one another and are separately inflatable and deflatable relative to one another.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the agitator includes a pump and wherein the bladder has multiple chambers and wherein further expansion of a first one of the pillow members by the pump causes contraction of a first one of the chambers within the bladder and expansion of a second one of the chambers within the bladder.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein expansion of a second one of the pillow members by the pump causes contraction of a second one of the chambers within the bladder and expansion of a first one of the chambers within the bladder.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the agitator includes a pump connected with the actuator pillow to alternatively inflate and deflate the actuator pillow.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the actuator pillow includes at least two separate pillow members and wherein the pump includes a separate pump unit for each pillow member.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising an insulator positioned between the heater and the actuator pillow.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a controller operable to monitor and adjust the heater to control the temperature of the fluid in the bladder.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , comprising a sensor to detect the temperature of the fluid in the bladder and the biological material wherein said heater is responsive to the sensor to adjust the temperature.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the sensor cooperates with the agitator so that the sensor ceases operation of the agitator at selected, predetermined temperatures.

16. An apparatus for thawing frozen material in a container comprising:

A) a housing for receiving the container of frozen material;

B) a sealed fluid-filled bladder contained within the housing for thermally communicating with the container of frozen material;

C) an agitator in the housing for causing movement of the fluid-filled bladder and the container of frozen material communicating with the bladder; and

D) a heater positioned within the housing external of the bladder to heat the fluid in the fluid-filled bladder while the fluid is contained within the sealed bladder to thaw the frozen material in the container;

wherein the bladder includes a first section and a second section, and wherein said first and second sections are connected by at least two valves, one valve permitting fluid flow from the first section to the second section and the other valve permitting fluid flow from the second section to the first section.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the agitator is in communication with the first and second sections and operates to compress the first section relative to the second section to cause fluid to flow from the first section through the valve permitting fluid to flow into the second section.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the agitator functions to thereafter compress the second section relative to the first section to cause fluid to flow from the second section through the other valve and back into the first section.

19. An apparatus for thawing frozen material in a container comprising:

A) a housing for receiving the container of frozen material;

B) a sealed fluid-filled bladder contained within the housing for thermally communicating with the container of frozen material;

C) an agitator in the housing for causing movement of the fluid-filled bladder and the container of frozen material communicating with the bladder; and

D) a heater positioned within the housing external of the bladder to heat the fluid in the fluid-filled bladder while the fluid is contained within the sealed bladder to thaw the frozen material in the container;

wherein the fluid-filled bladder includes four chambers for the circulation of the fluid therethrough.

20. An apparatus for thawing frozen material in a container comprising:

A) a housing for receiving the container of frozen material;

B) a sealed fluid-filled bladder contained within the housing for thermally communicating with the container of frozen material;

C) an agitator in the housing for causing movement of the fluid-filled bladder and the container of frozen material communicating with the bladder; and

D) a heater positioned within the housing external of the bladder to heat the fluid in the fluid-filled bladder while the fluid is contained within the sealed bladder to thaw the frozen material in the container;

wherein the bladder has multiple chambers and wherein the agitator is activated to cause contraction of one of the chambers of the bladder, thereby effecting movement of fluid from the contracted chamber through at least one check valve into at least one other chamber of the bladder.

21. The apparatus of claim 1 , 16 , 19 , or 20 , comprising a bladder support for supporting the bladder within the housing.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the agitator moves the bladder support to agitate the bladder and move the container of frozen material.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the bladder support includes a web-like support which connects with the housing and seals the agitator from the bladder.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the bladder support comprises at least two separately movable support plates.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the bladder support includes a hinge and wherein the support plates are interconnected with the hinge.

26. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the bladder support includes a hinge to effect movement of the bladder and the container of frozen material.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the hinge comprises an elastic material.

28. The apparatus of claim 1 , 19 , or 20 , wherein the bladder has two chambers located above the container of the frozen material and two chambers located below the container of the frozen material.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the agitator is activated to cause contraction of a first one of the upper and a first one of the lower chambers of the bladder, thereby effecting movement of fluid from the contracted first one of the upper chambers into the contracted first one of the lower chambers, and effecting fluid flow from the contracted first one of the lower chambers through a check valve into a second one of the lower chambers of the bladder and then into a second one of the upper chambers of the bladder.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the agitator is activated to cause contraction of such second one of the upper chamber and the second one of the lower chamber of the bladder, thereby effecting movement of fluid from such second one of the lower chambers into such second one of the upper chambers, and effecting fluid flow from such second one of the upper chambers through a check valve and back into the first one of the upper chambers of the bladder and into the first one of the lower chambers of the bladder.

31. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein an upper chamber and a lower chamber of the bladder are connected by a fold in the bladder.