About Plastination

What is plastination?
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 anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977, is a process whereby all bodily fluids and soluble fats are replaced with reactive plastics that harden after curing with light, heat or gas. 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 specimen into a whole-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.

For more information about plastination, please visit the Institute for Plastination website www.bodyworlds.com