Patent ID: 7722839

Claim:
An apparatus for thawing and heating biological material contained in a bag, said apparatus comprising: A. a multi-chambered bladder having a flexible wall for engagement with the bag; B. a reservoir containing a fluid; C. a circulation system operably communicating with the reservoir to fill the bladder with the fluid from the reservoir and expand the bladder wall and effect movement of the bag, and operable to withdraw the fluid from the bladder for circulating into the reservoir thereby causing the bladder wall to contract and effect movement of the bag, wherein said circulation system moves the fluid in such a manner that one chamber of the bladder may fill or empty fluid independently of another chamber; and D. a heater operable to heat the fluid within the reservoir, wherein the expansion and contraction of the bladder wall in response to operation of the circulation system agitates the bag and the biological material, and wherein the bladder wall is thermally conductive to transfer heat from the heated fluid in the bladder to the bag of the biological material.