Plastination

File:PlastinationProcess EN.svg

Four steps are followed in the standard process of plastination: fixation, dehydration, forced impregnation in a vacuum, and hardening.{{cite journal |first=Gunther |last=von Hagens |author-link=Gunther von Hagens |author2=Klaus Tiedemann |author3=Wilhelm Kriz |title=The current potential of plastination |journal=Anatomy and Embryology |volume=175 |issue=4 |pages=411–21 |year=1987 |pmid=3555158 |doi=10.1007/BF00309677 |s2cid=21077765 }} Water and lipid tissues are replaced by curable polymers, which include silicone, epoxy, and polyester-copolymer.

The first step of plastination, fixation,{{cite journal |first=Robert W. |last=Henry |author2=Larry Janick |author3=Francis Paul Salmos |date=February 1997 |title=Specimen preparation for silicone plastination |journal=Journal of the International Society for Plastination |issn=1090-2171 |url=https://www.uqtr.ca/plast-journal/vol12/1_Henry_13a17.pdf |volume=12 |issue=1 |access-date=27 January 2009}} frequently uses a formaldehyde-based solution, and serves two functions. Dissecting the specimen to show specific anatomical elements can be time-consuming. Formaldehyde or other preserving solutions help prevent decomposition of the tissues. They may also confer a degree of rigidity. This can be beneficial in maintaining the shape or arrangement of a specimen. A stomach might be inflated or a leg bent at the knee, for example.

After any necessary dissections have taken place, the specimen is placed in a bath of acetone (freezing point {{convert|-95|°C|°F|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) at {{convert|-20|to|-30|C|F}}. The volume of the bath should be 10 times that of the specimen. The acetone is renewed two times over the course of six weeks. The acetone draws out all the water and replaces it inside the cells.{{cite journal |first=Harmon C. |last=Bickley |author2=Robert S. Conner, Anna N. Walker and R. Lamar Jackson |date=January 1987 |title=Preservation of tissue by silicone rubber impregnation |url=http://journal.plastination.org/archive/jp_vol.01.1/jp_vol.01.1_030-039.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624022306/http://journal.plastination.org/archive/jp_vol.01.1/jp_vol.01.1_030-039.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2015|url-status=live |journal=Journal of the International Society for Plastination |issn=1090-2171 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=30–39 |access-date=10 May 2009}}

In the third step, the specimen is then placed in a bath of liquid polymer, such as silicone rubber, polyester, or epoxy resin. In a partial vacuum, the acetone is made to boil at a low temperature. As the acetone vaporizes and leaves the cells, it draws the liquid polymer in behind it, leaving a cell filled with liquid plastic.

The plastic must then be cured with gas, heat, or ultraviolet light, to harden it.

Specimens, which can vary from a full human body to a small piece of an animal organ, are known as 'plastinates'.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Once plastinated, the specimens and bodies are further manipulated and positioned prior to curing (hardening) of the polymer chains.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

File:Gunther von Hagens 2.jpg, the inventor of plastination]]

In November 1979, Gunther von Hagens applied for a German patent, proposing the idea of preserving animal and vegetable tissues permanently by synthetic resin impregnation.{{Ref patent |country=DE |number=2710147 |status=patent |title=Präparat aus biologischen verweslichen Objekten und Verfahren zu ihrer Herstellung |gdate=14 September 1978}} Since then, von Hagens has applied for further US patents regarding work on preserving biological tissues with polymers.{{Ref patent |country=US |number=4205059 |status=patent |title=Animal and vegetal tissues permanently preserved by synthetic resin |gdate=27 May 1980}}{{Ref patent |country=US |number=4320157 |status=patent |title=Method for preserving large sections of biological tissue with polymers |gdate=16 March 1982}}

With the success of his patents, von Hagens went on to form the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany in 1993. The Institute for Plastination, along with von Hagens, made their first showing of plastinated bodies in Japan in 1995, which drew more than three million visitors. The institute maintains three international centres of plastination, in Germany, Kyrgyzstan, and China.{{cite web |url=http://www.biodurproducts.com/en/plastination/preservation_plastination.html |title=Preservation by Plastination |publisher=BIODUR |access-date=5 March 2009}}

Other methods have been in place for thousands of years to halt the decomposition of the body. Mummification used by the ancient Egyptians is a widely known method which involves the removal of body fluid and wrapping the body in linens. Prior to mummification, Egyptians would lay the body in a shallow pit in the desert and allow the sun to dehydrate the body.{{cite web |first=Eric |last=Rymer |url=http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/religion_mummification_history.htm |title=History of Burial Beliefs in Ancient Egypt |publisher=History Link 101 |access-date=11 May 2009}}{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2009}}

Formalin, an important solution to body preservation, was introduced in 1896 to help with body preservation. Soon to follow formalin, color-preserving embalming solutions were developed to preserve lifelike color and flexibility to aid in the study of the body.{{cite web |url=http://www.funeralmuseum.org/pdf/formaldehyde.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050306094856/http://www.funeralmuseum.org/pdf/formaldehyde.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2005 |title=Formaldehyde: Its Development And History Since 1868 |publisher=Museum of Funeral Customs |access-date=11 May 2009}}

Paraffin impregnation was introduced in 1925, and the embedding of organs in plastic was developed in the 1960s.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

Body preservation methods current to the 21st century are cryopreservation, which involves the cooling of the body to very low temperatures to preserve the body tissues, plastination, and embalming.{{Ref patent |country=US |number=5089288 |status=patent |title=Method for Impregnating Tissue Samples in Paraffin |gdate=18 February 1992}}

Other methods used in modern times include the Silicone S 10 Standard Procedure, the Cor-Tech Room temperature procedure, the Epoxy E 12 procedure, and the Polyester P 35 (P 40) procedure.{{cite web|url=http://meduni02.edis.at/plast/plmeth.html |title=Other Plastination Methods |publisher=International Society for Plastination |access-date=19 May 2009 |date=20 October 1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515122825/http://meduni02.edis.at/plast/plmeth.html |archive-date=15 May 2009 }} The Silicone S 10 is the procedure most often used in plastination and creates opaque, natural-looking specimen.{{cite web |url=http://isp.plastination.org/silicone.html |title=The Silicone S 10 |publisher=International Society for Plastination |access-date=19 May 2009 |year=2008}} Dow Corning Corporation's Cor-Tech Room Temperature Procedure is designed to allow plastination of specimen at room temperature to various degrees of flexibility using three combinations of polymer, crosslinker, and catalyst.{{cite web |url=http://isp.plastination.org/cortech.html |title=The COR-TECH Room Temperature |publisher=International Society for Plastination |access-date=19 May 2009 |year=2008}} According to the International Society for Plastination, the Epoxy E 12 procedure is used "for thin, transparent, and firm body and organ slices", while the Polyster P 35 (P 40) preserves "semitransparent and firm brain slices". Samples are prepared for fixation through the first method by deep freezing,{{cite web |url=http://isp.plastination.org/epoxy.html |title=The Epoxy E 12 |publisher=International Society for Plastination |access-date=19 May 2009 |year=2008}} while the second method works best following 4–6 weeks of preparation in a formaldehyde mixture.{{cite web |url=http://isp.plastination.org/polyester.html |title=The Polyester P35/P40 |publisher=International Society for Plastination |access-date=19 May 2009 |year=2008}}

Plastination is useful in anatomy, serving as models and teaching tools.{{cite journal |url=http://www.nyu.edu/dental/nexus/issues/fall2004/vonhagens.html |title=Life, Death, and One Man's Quest to Demystify the Inner Realms of the Human Body |journal=Nexus |date=Fall 2004 |access-date=13 February 2009}} It is used at more than 40 medical and dental schools throughout the world as an adjunct to anatomical dissection.

File:Histological section of bovine tongue.jpg

Students enrolled in introductory animal science courses at many universities learn animal science through collections of multispecies large-animal specimens. Plastination allows students to have hands-on experience in this field, without exposure to chemicals such as formalin. For example, plastinated canine gastrointestinal tracts are used to help in the teaching of endoscopic technique and anatomy.{{cite journal |first=L. |last=Janick |author2=R. C. DeNovo |author3=R. W. Henry |year=1997 |title=Plastinated Canine Gastrointestinal Tracts Used to Facilitate Teaching of Endoscopic Technique and Anatomy |journal=Cells Tissues Organs |volume=158 |issue=1 |pages=48–53 |doi=10.1159/000147910|pmid=9293297 }} The plastinated specimens retain their dilated conformation by a positive pressure air flow during the curing process, which allows them to be used to teach both endoscopic technique and gastrointestinal anatomy.

With the use of plastination as a teaching method of animal science, fewer animals have to be killed for research, as the plastination process allows specimens to be studied for a long time.{{cite web|url=http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/ap/tour/labs/plastination.htm |title=KSUCVM Plastination Laboratory |publisher=Vet.ksu.edu |date=8 January 2009 |access-date=18 March 2010}}

TTT sheet plastinates for school teaching and lay instruction provide a thorough impression of the complexity of an animal body in just one specimen.

Image:Scheibenplastinat.jpg

North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh, North Carolina, uses both plastic coating (PC) and plastination (PN) to investigate and compare the difference in the two methods. The PC method was simple and inexpensive, but the PN specimens were more flexible, durable, and lifelike than those preserved by the PC method. The use of plastination allowed the use of many body parts such as muscle, nerves, bones, ligaments, and central nervous system to be preserved.{{cite journal |author=Holladay SD, Hudson LC |title=Use of plastinated brains in teaching neuroanatomy at the North Carolina State University, College of Veterinary Medicine |journal=Journal of the International Society for Plastination |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=15–17 |year=1989 |doi=10.56507/FEKB4686 |url=https://www.uqtr.ca/plast-journal/vol3/Holladay_15a17.pdf |access-date=19 May 2009}}

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio was the first school in the United States to use this technique to prepare gross organ specimens for use in teaching.{{cite web|url=http://pathology.uthscsa.edu/parc/index.shtml |title=Pathology Academic Resource Center: UT Health Science Center – Graduate School of Biomedical Science |publisher=pathology.uthscsa.edu |access-date=22 September 2010}} The New York University College of Dentistry, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine,{{cite web|url=http://www.welcometopcom.com/tours/phl-anatomy.php |title=Virtual Campus Tour: PCOM Anatomy Lab |publisher=PCOM.edu |access-date=29 July 2015}} University of Warwick, and University of Northumbria{{cite web|url=http://www.european-hospital.com/topics/article/4657.html |title=First University to Acquire von Hagens Plastinations for University Teaching |publisher=European-hospital.com |date=28 October 2008 |access-date=18 March 2010}} use collections of plastinates as teaching aids. The University of Vienna{{cite web|url=http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/plastination/ |title=Vienna University Plastination Facility |publisher=Meduniwien.ac.at |access-date=18 March 2010}} and the University of Sheffield{{cite web |title=Medical Teaching Unit {{!}} Medical School {{!}} The University of Sheffield |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/medicine/academic-unit-medical-education/medical-teaching-unit |website=www.sheffield.ac.uk |publisher=The University of Sheffield |access-date=5 September 2020 |language=en |date=1 September 2020}} have their own plastination laboratories. The first medical school in India to have a plastination lab was A.I.I.M.S, New Delhi with others following suit like Christian Medical College, Vellore, Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida etc.

Concern over consent of bodies being used in the plastination process has arisen. Over 20 years ago, von Hagens set up a body donation program in Germany and has signed over 9,000 donors into the plastinate program: 531 have already died. The program has reported an average of one body a day being released to the plastination process. About 90% of the donors registered are German. Von Hagens' body donations are now being managed by the Institute for Plastination (IfP){{cite web|url=http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/institute_for_plastination/mission_objectives.html |title=Institute |publisher=Bodyworlds.com |access-date=18 March 2010}} established in 1993.{{cite journal |first1=Debashis |last1=Singh |title=Scientist or showman? |journal=BMJ |volume=326 |issue=7387 |page=468 |date=March 2003 |pmid=12609939 |pmc=1125369 |doi=10.1136/bmj.326.7387.468 |last2=Von Hagens |first2=G}}

A number of religious sects prohibit organ donation.{{Cite journal|url=https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1705993-overview|title=Religions and the Autopsy: Overview, Islam, Judaism|date=30 June 2020|via=eMedicine}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/life-after-death-donating-your-body-for-research-1623676.html|title=Life after death: Donating your body for research|date=17 February 2009|website=The Independent}} Ultra-Orthodox Jews oppose post mortem organ donation, and have tried to pass laws against unclaimed cadavers being used in research.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/exclusive-2-pols-change-unclaimed-cadaver-law-article-1.2165881|title=Two state lawmakers want to change law requiring morgues, hospitals to give unclaimed bodies to schools|first=Glenn|last=Blain|website=nydailynews.com|date=29 March 2015 }}

A number of religious organizations, including Catholic{{Cite news|author=KTVI |title=No Body World Exhibit For Catholic Field Trips |url=http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4201800&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623080125/http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4201800&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 |archive-date=23 June 2008 |publisher=Fox Television Stations |date=28 August 2007 |access-date=17 September 2008|url-status=usurped |author-link=KTVI }}{{Cite web|url=http://rcav.org/2010-09-30-concerns-about-body-worlds/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413125000/http://rcav.org/2010-09-30-concerns-about-body-worlds/|url-status= dead|title=Archdiocese of Vancouver – Body Worlds Exhibit|archive-date=13 April 2014}} and Jewish{{cite web|author=Deborah Sussman Susser |url=http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?070209+body |title='Body Worlds' comes to Phoenix – Jewish News of Greater Phoenix |publisher=Jewishaz.com |date=9 February 2007 |access-date=25 February 2010}} ones, object to the display of plastinated body parts at public exhibitions.

For the first 20 years, plastination was used to preserve small specimens for medical study. In the early 1990s, the equipment was developed to make plastinating whole body specimens possible, each specimen taking up to 1,500-man-hours to prepare.{{cite AV media |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/leonardopodcast/TheLeonardoPodcast1.mp3 |title=TheLeonardo Podcast no. 1 |format=MP3 |date=19 September 2008 |first=Ross |last=Chambless |access-date=8 May 2009}} The first exhibition of whole bodies was displayed by von Hagens in Japan in 1995.

Over the next two years, Von Hagens developed the {{lang|de|Körperwelten}} (Body Worlds) public exhibitions, showing whole bodies plastinated in lifelike poses and dissected to show various structures and systems of human anatomy. The earliest exhibitions were presented in the Far East and in Germany, and Gunther von Hagens' exhibitions have subsequently been hosted by museums and venues in more than 50 cities worldwide, attracting more than 29 million visitors.{{Citation needed|reason=a specific page with this specific information needs to be cited, not just the main body worlds website|date=May 2009}}

Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds exhibitions are the original, precedent-setting public anatomical exhibitions of real human bodies, and the only anatomical exhibits that use donated bodies, willed by donors to the Institute for Plastination for the express purpose of serving the Body Worlds mission to educate the public about health and anatomy. To date, more than 10,000 people have agreed to donate their bodies to Institute for Plastination.

In 2004, Premier Exhibitions began their "Bodies Revealed" exhibition in Blackpool, England, which ran from August through October 2004.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} In 2005 and 2006, the company opened their "Bodies Revealed" and "Bodies...The Exhibition" in Seoul, Tampa, and New York City.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} The West Coast exhibition site opened on 22 June 2006 at the Tropicana Resort and Casino Las Vegas.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} {{As of|2009|06}}, BODIES... The Exhibition is showing at the Ambassador Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.{{cn|date=May 2025}} The exhibition was in Istanbul, Turkey, until the end of March 2011.

Plastination galleries are offered in several college medical schools, including the University of Michigan (which Michigan Daily reported possessed the United States' largest such lab in 2007),{{cite news |title=The plastinator |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/uncategorized/plastinator/ |access-date=17 May 2025 |agency=The Michigan Daily |date=Feb 14, 2007}} Vienna University,{{cite web|url=http://www.meduniwien.ac.at/plastination/ |title=Plastination at the Vienna University |publisher=Vienna University |access-date=18 March 2010}} and the JSS Medical Collegem{{Cite web|url=https://www.jssuni.edu.in/JSSWeb/WebShowFromDB.aspx?MODE=SSMD&PID=10002&CID=4&DID=8&MID=0&SMID=10402|title=Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara University|website=www.jssuni.edu.in}}{{nonspecific|date=May 2025}} Gunther von Hagens maintains a permanent exhibition of plastinates and plastination at the Plastinarium in Guben, Germany.{{Cite web|url=http://www.plastinarium.de/en/plastinarium_e/the_plastinarium_what_is_it.html|title=The Plastinarium – What is it?|publisher=Gubener Plastinate GmbH|website=www.plastinarium.de|access-date=17 August 2018}}

• Écorché
• Freeze drying
• Moulage
• Girolamo Segato

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{Cite book |first=Gunther |last=von Hagens |author-link=Gunther von Hagens |date=March 1986 |title=Heidelberg plastination folder: collection of technical leaflets of plastination |publisher=Biodur Products |location=Heidelberg |oclc=256499636}} First published as {{cite book |first=Gunther |last=von Hagens |author-link=Gunther von Hagens |year=1985 |title=Heidelberger Plastinationshefter Sammlung von Merkblättern zur Plastination |language=de |publisher=University of Heidelberg |location=Heidelberg |oclc=174501422}}
• {{Cite journal |first=Liselotte Hermes |last=da Fonseca |author2=Thomas Kliche |year=2007 |title=Verführerische Leichen – verbotener Verfall. "Körperwelten" als gesellschaftliches Schlüsselereignis. Perspektiven Politischer Psychologie |url=http://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/56981/ |language=de |journal=Deutsches Ärzteblatt |volume=104 |issue=38}}
• {{Cite journal |first=Gunther |last=von Hagens |author2=Klaus Tiedemann |author3=Wilhelm Kriz |title=The current potential of plastination |journal=Anatomy and Embryology |volume=175 |issue=4 |pages=411–21 |date=March 1987 |pmid=3555158 |doi=10.1007/BF00309677 |s2cid=21077765 }}
• {{Cite book |first=Angelina |last=Whalley |title=Pushing the Limits: Encounters with Body Worlds Creator Gunther von Hagens |publisher=Arts & Sciences |location=Heidelberg |year=2005 |isbn=978-3-937256-07-8 |oclc=61119531}}
• {{Cite book |first=Gunther |last=von Hagens |title=Body Worlds The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies |publisher=Institute für Plastination |location=Heidelberg |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-937256-04-7 |oclc=69257041 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gunthervonhagens0000hage }}
• Ottone NE et al. (2015). New contributions to the development of a plastination technique at room temperature with silicone. Anatomical Science International 2015; 90(2):126–35. {{doi|10.1007/s12565-014-0258-6}}
• Ottone NE et al. (2018). E12 sheet plastination: Techniques and applications. Clinical Anatomy, 31(5):742–756. {{doi|10.1002/ca.23008}}
• Ottone NE et al. (2020). Extraction of DNA from plastinated tissues. Forensic Science International, 309:110199. {{doi|10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110199}}
• Ottone NE (2020). Micro-Plastination. Technique for Obtaining Slices below 250 μm for the Visualization of Microanatomy in Morphological and Pathological Morphology Protocols. International Journal of Morphology, 38( 2 ): 389–91. {{doi|10.4067/S0717-95022020000200389}}

• [https://www.vonhagens-plastination.com True Anatomy for New Ways of Teaching von Hagens Plastination offers one-of-a-kind, real human teaching specimens!]
• [https://bodyworlds.com/plastination/plastination-technique/ Plastination technique], on Body Worlds page
• [http://www.plastination.org Plastination website by Dr. Selcuk Tunali]
• [https://www.plastinacion.com Laboratory of Plastination & Anatomical Techniques, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile (Dr. Nicolas E. Ottone)]
• [http://www.plastinationmodels.com Plastination Models Inc.]
• [http://plastination.in/ Plastination in India by Dr. N. M. Shama Sundar.]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081011053049/http://www.ibms.org/index.cfm?method=science.general_science&subpage=general_plastination_S10_technique Plastination: Silicone Impregnation of Specimens (the standard S10 technique)]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071025002030/http://www.ibms.org/index.cfm?method=science.general_science&subpage=general_sheet_plastination_technique Plastination: The Sheet Plastination Technique]
• [http://isp.plastination.org International Society for Plastination]
• [https://www.uqtr.ca/plastination/index-Anglais.html The New Plastination Index Online]
• [https://www.uqtr.ca/plastination/sujets.html The New Plastination Index on-line: Subject Index]
• [http://www.cinequestonline.org/2006/theater/detail_view.php?m=650: "Exhibit Human" a documentary on plastination by Aaron Edell]
• [http://digitalcommons.pcom.edu/scholarly_papers/300/ Learn About PCOM's Plastination Process]
• https://plastodur.com/

{{Death}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Anatomical preservation

Category:1990 introductions