Cryosleep System
Cryosleep (cryo) systems are life support systems designed to place biological individuals into suspended animation, either for interstellar travel or for other purposes. With the advent of affordable life extension technology throughout humanity, cryosleep systems act less to preserve lifespan and more to reduce the tedium of spending multiple years or even decades confined within a ship, which is catastrophic to the mental health of crew members. The largest manufacturers of cryosleep systems include Pacific Industrial Science and BioCorp.
The majority of cryosleep systems require a medical procedure conducted by technicians to initiate the suspension process, which involves initial sedation, the placement of IVs, and the replacement of blood with cryoprotectants before the body is flash-frozen within the cryopod enclosure; at the end of the cryosleep period, the individual is defrosted and reanimated automatically by the pod without the need for manual intervention. Because of the requirement of technician intervention to place individuals back in suspension, ship medical crews usually employ at least one synthetic to act as the last individual to "go back to sleep", as synthetics can place themselves in hibernation and do not require cryopods.