Like it, Dragoner!
Though I was thinking '
Cryostat' as the base word - the term for an actual device used for a broad range of cryogenic needs in industry and research - even medical treatment (rapid tissue diagnosis during some cancer surgeries, IIRC).
So Cryostatic Surgery sounds like a cool Sci-Fi tech to me!
Stasis fields ala E. Doc Smith shouldn't fit in normal Traveller TLs till one starts talking transporters, disintegraters, time travel and the like as everyday, IMO. (Which means some fool author included it in canon somewhere!)
IMTU, normal lowberths use a two step process that starts with a HIT (Hibernation Inducement Trigger) injection before the chamber is sealed and an initial gaseous stabilized Hydrogen Sulfide protocol begins. Then the second phase kicks in, in which heart rate is lowered, a full blood transfusion commences to replace plasma with a NCR injection (nucleoside-cryo-stabilizer) along with a low-temp liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC) solution replacing the chamber air, all while chamber pressure is intentionally changed in a very controlled way to facilitate inter- and intra- cellular infusion in conjunction with pleural stabilization while core temp is lowered into cryogenic ranges.
E-berth and field medical units replace the HIT with a high adenosine dosage injection to stop the heart while they immediately initiate an accelerated process otherwise identical to the above.
While in cryo-sleep, the body is in stasis - the medical type, referring to cessation of metabolic functions, not the temporal Sci-Fi type.
The body tissue is not 'frozen solid' as the water has been conditioned with anti-freeze properties and the berth is filled with a still liquid solution - though it is at cryogenic temperatures.
Revival follows a reverse process, returning the blood (which has been purified) along with normal gaseous atmosphere at ambient pressure. The final step in automated revival involves a controlled series of adrenaline injections to return the heart to normal fibrillation. Manual injections are quite a bit riskier and require qualified medical personnel.
Note, these units have several doses of useful medical drugs, along with PFC tanks and Hydrogen Sulfide tanks - the later being fun given the 'rotten egg' smell and the fact they are flammable, not to mention poisonous... :devil:
I can definitely see surgical techniques being applicable - with the proper equipment, as the berth must remained sealed and thermally stable - in fact, it would be perfect for quite a number of surgeries. Though complications on revival would present increased risks, I would think, since it is pretty dramatic in and of itself, potentially masking symptoms and aggravating post-op conditions...
Very cool! (pun intended!)
o:
