Introduction:

Plastination is a preservation method of anatomical components; which consists of replacing the water molecules with a polymer, this is achieved in four stages (fixation, dehydration, forced impregnation and curing), based on this our objective was to adapt the plastination technique known as the German standard technique, to the conditions of the Laboratory of Plastination of the UDEA.

Materials and methods:

We adapted the standard German plastination method by replacing the original dehydrating agent, acetone, with isopropyl alcohol; it was necessary to modify the temperature of the forced impregnation step in the standard German technique completely done in cold; requiring in our technique to perform a second impregnation at room temperature.

Results:

A total of 343 plastinated pieces were obtained, 150 with the plastination protocol UDEA, with the characteristics described in the standard German method: dry, odorless, natural looking and durable.

Discussion:

The plastination technique of the UDEA, although it increases the consumption of polymers, the cost / benefit ratio is still favorable, since it reduces the costs with respect to the application of standard German techniques in our environment. Employing plastinated pieces for teaching have different advantages, in turn it allows to replace the use of the conservation of pieces with base of formaldehyde, avoiding the exposure to the same and their harmful effects for the health; so the use of it has helped to strengthen various academic programs in our faculty.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )