Devra ([info]devradigestion) wrote,
@ 2005-08-27 00:44:00
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Plastination
The following information was copied and pasted from THIS SITE:

PLASTINATION



• Human beings have been trying to see inside the body for thousands of years. Our fascination with anatomy goes back to the times of ancient Egypt and likely even before then.

• Organic decay makes it difficult for us to study human anatomy and for centuries, scientists have been searching for better preservation techniques.

• Plastination, invented by German Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977, is a vacuum process whereby the body’s water and fat are replaced with reactive plastics that are initially pliable and then harden after infusion. All tissue structures are retained.

• Unlike plastic models, plastinated specimens are intricate, REAL displays of human anatomy.

• It takes an average of 1,500 hours to transform a cadaver into a full-body plastinate.

• Plastinated specimens are dry and odorless and retain their natural structure – in fact, they are identical to their pre-preservation state down to the microscopic level.

• "Slice plastination" is a special variation of this preservation technique. Frozen body specimens are cut into slices which are then plastinated. Plastinated organs and body slices are a useful teaching aid for cross-sectional anatomy which is gaining importance in medical communities.

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Cont'd - Dr. Gunther von Hagens
[info]devradigestion
2005-08-26 10:50 pm UTC (link)
Dr. Gunther von Hagens completed his medical studies at the University of Lübeck in 1973. In 1974, he received his license to practice medicine before moving to the University of Heidelberg, where he finished his doctoral thesis as a resident in the Department of Anaesthetics and Emergency Medicine in 1975. He started an 18-year career as a resident and lecturer in the Institute of Pathology and the Institute of Anatomy at the University of Heidelberg in 1976.

In 1977, in the department of Anatomy at the University of Heidelberg, he invented plastination as a groundbreaking technology for preserving anatomical specimens with reactive polymers. The process was patented between 1978 and 1982. Also in 1978, Dr. von Hagens started his own company, BIODUR Products, which has since marketed special polymers and equipment for plastination. These products are currently exported to 400 institutions in 40 countries worldwide. Dr. von Hagens founded the Heidelberg-based Institute for Plastination in 1993, with the aim of developing plastinated specimens for educational use and for the BODY WORLDS exhibition, which had its premiere in Japan in 1995. He finalized his engagements at Heidelberg University in 1995 and accepted a visiting professorship at Dalian Medical University in China in 1996. That same year, he became the director of the plastination research centre at the State Medical Academy in Bishkek/Kyrgyzstan. He has since been active at both locations and in 2001 additionally founded a private company (the "Von Hagens Dalian Plastination Ltd.") in Dalian, China.

In 2004 Dr. von Hagens began a visiting professorship at the New York University College of Dentistry where he will help design the first non-dissection anatomy curriculum in the U.S. to use plastinated specimens exclusively as educational models.

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