Plastination - Uses of Plastinated Specimens

Uses of Plastinated Specimens

Plastination is useful in anatomy as well as serving as models and teaching tools. Plastination is used at more than 40 medical and dental schools throughout the world as an adjunct to anatomical dissection.

Students enrolled in introductory animal science courses at many universities learn animal science through collections of multi-species 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. The plastinated specimens retain their dilated conformation by a positive pressure air flow, 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.

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

The North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh, North Carolina uses both PC (plastic coating) and PN (plastination) to investigate and compare the difference in the two methods. The PC method was simple and inexpensive, but the plastinated specimens (PN method) 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.

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. The New York University College of Dentistry., University of Warwick and University of Northumbria use collections of plastinates as teaching aids. The University of Vienna has its own plastination laboratory.