The Cryonics Institute facility is housed in the Erfurt Runkel Building. John Erfurt and Walter Runkel were two of our long-time officers who died in recent years and are now among our patients in cryostasis.

The building is in a recently built, modern industrial subdivision of Clinton Township, Michigan, northeast of Detroit. The building is 7,000 square feet and we own it free and clear. Although the building was relatively new and in good condition when we bought it, we have made many improvements and continue to do so--for safety, security, convenience, and appearance.

Until 2003 the Cryonics Institute did all patient perfusion in our Procedures Room. Since 2003, however, we have become a licensed cemetery in the State of Michigan. Perfusions must now be done outside of the CI Facility, at the premises of a Funeral Director.

The quality of our perfusions have been improving all the time, however. Since we began using the facilities of the Funeral Director we have begun doing vitrification. And our Funeral Director has mastered surgical skills never before seen in cryonics. (For details, see The Cryonics Institute's 69th Patient .)

These cryostats are made of different formulations of fiberglass instead of metal, with evacuated perlite for insulation. On balance, for our purposes, they are superior to commercially available units.

In particular they are more rugged, less likely to spring leaks in the vacuum system; if a leak does occur (which so far has never happened), loss of insulation is less pronounced and there is much more time to deal with the problem. There is no need to bake the units periodically to harden the vacuum, requiring transfer of the patients, as may be the case with commercial units.

This is the world's largest human storage cryostat as it looked before completion in September of 1998. It now contains 14 cryonics patients.

Because the unit is rectangular, heavy bracing is necessary to support the air pressure that would tend to press the outer and inner shells together. (There is evacuated perlite between the shells for insulation.)

The covering skin is fiberglass--on the outside, polyester fiberglass treated with fire retardant; on the inside, epoxy fiberglass that can withstand contact with liquid nitrogen. These units are extremely rugged.

This photo shows the big cryostat nearly finished, except for the top cover. Inside dimensions are about 7 feet long by 4 feet wide by 6.5 feet deep. (It is now finished and in service with 14 patients.)

Bulk Tank

Liquid nitrogen costs are about a tenth of our total costs, most of which are fixed expenses for facility maintenance, salaries, etc.

Our newer cryostats, a cylindrical design on which we outsourced the fabrication, hold six patients and incorporate an improved design using no bottom supports, as well as a special top made by Andy Zawacki.

A report on cryostat performace and technical details -- especially concerning the newer cylindrical cryostats -- is available on the website of the Cryonics Institute (CI): Cryostats for Cryogenic Storage

A report on CI's computer controlled cooling boxes can be found on the CI website at: Computer-Controlled Cooling Boxes at CI

For a report on CI's emergency response equipment see: Cryonics Institute New Emergency Response Equipment

For a report on CI Research see: Cryonics Institute Cryobiological Research

For photos in large JPEG and TIFF files for high resolution, see: High-Resolution Photographs for Journalist Use