Wikipedia: Cryonics

Cryonics is the practice of freezing whole organisms at near absolute zero, where metabolism and decay completely stop, for preservation and possible revival. It is expected that scientific and medical procedures being developed now or those in the future will be able to revive such organisms and restore them to good health. A patient held in such a state is said to be in [cryonic suspension]?.

Unlike the common medical practice of preserving simple tissues (called cryobiology?), cryonics is generally viewed with skepticism by most scientists and doctors today. It is believed by many that restoration of cryonically suspended patients will require speculative technologies far beyond what is available today, such as nanotechnology.

Books of interest: [The Prospect of Immortality]? by [Robert Ettinger]?.