Cryoscience

Cryoscience is the theoretic and applied cryobiology: preserving organic material in low temperatures, or cryonics (from Greek κρύος 'kryos-' meaning 'icy cold'). The term stasis is used interchangeably to refer to cryonic suspension.

Overview
Cryoscience was an experimental discipline before the War, intended to be used in combat medicine to increase the survival rate among combat troops, by freezing them and then having trained physicians revive them in a safer place where lifesaving surgery could be done. More experimental approaches were undertaken in research facilities like the Big MT, where hibernation chambers were being developed.

Cryonics was risky. Improper resuscitation could cause the post-cryonic syndrome, where the body of the patient spontaneously dissolves.

That being said, cryonics was utilized by firefighting departments on the East Coast by way of the fireman protectron, boasting an integrated cryo gun for use as a fire extinguisher and an enhanced, fire-retardant shell.

Weaponry
The widest use of cryonics as weapons are in the form of cryo grenades and mines. Whether they were first made aboard Mothership Zeta or in the Commonwealth is unclear, but the concepts are the same: when the weapon is triggered, a burst of cryonic material is released from the point of detonation, freezing and paralyzing anything within the blast radius.

A more experimental weapon was developed by the overseer of Vault 111, who made a prototypical rig that could propel super-chilled nitrogen gas at a target, slowly freezing them as they were exposed.

Sierra Army Depot
As seen with PFC Dobbs, the United States Armed Forces was utilizing experimental biomed gel to cryonically preserve corpses for medical experimentation, as well as store organs for transplantation and preserve samples of deadly diseases.

Raven Rock
The government military base at Raven Rock was outfitted with a biological lab, where cryonic suspension tanks were installed, allowing for preserving biological material (up to the size of deathclaws) and organic compounds like robobrain organic processors. They could also be used as prison cells, to retain prisoners in a state of suspended animation - or to simply keep them immobilized for interrogation.

Vault 87
Stasis chambers were part of the Vault 87's special equipment manifest.

Vault 111
Personal stasis chambers were used in Vault 111 to keep a number of its vault dwellers, including Nate, Nora and Shaun, alive for over 200 years after the Great War. A post-War prototype "cryo-thrower" called the Cryolator was developed and stored here.

Zetan aliens
The Zetans are known to have developed an extremely advanced form of cryoscience, allowing them to store biological material indefinitely. Their cryo lab has stored living humans for over 700 years.

New Vegas
Robert House survived the Great War and passage of time by using the "LS chamber," a type of stasis chamber. This particular chamber is attached to the Lucky 38, its mainframes, and virtual reality routines.

Big MT
Hibernation chambers are a technology developed at the Big Mountain Research and Development Center. Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of life processes by exogenous or endogenous means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Although it does not appear in the add on Old World Blues.

Vault 0
Vault 0 was run by the Calculator, an advanced supercomputer that used an electro-organic terminal to link its central processing unit to brains stored in pseudo-cryonic conditions. The vault also has a corresponding cryo lab to regulate these conditions.

Boulder Dome
Within the Boulder Dome tunnels, Doctor Presper used sleeper tanks to preserve scientists and nubile women to be a part of his ruling/breeding elite. The Prisoner would be able to awaken them with the proper computer and Medicine skills.