Glossary term
Vitrification
Reference only — not medical advice. See disclaimer.
An ultra-rapid cryopreservation technique used in fertility treatment to freeze eggs, embryos, or sperm by plunging them into liquid nitrogen at extremely high cooling rates, converting cellular water directly to glass without the formation of ice crystals that could damage the cell's structure. It has largely replaced slow-freeze methods in modern IVF laboratories due to significantly higher post-thaw survival rates.