Adaptation and transformation of existing space into a plastination laboratory: Experience at the Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina

Abstract

For centuries tissue conservation has been sought. Now alternative techniques that minimize the risk of toxicity have emerged. Plastination, developed by Prof. Gunther von Hagens in 1977 is such. The principle of this technique is replacement of the fluid and lipid present in biological tissues by polymers, obtaining odorless, dry, durable and non-toxic specimens. Given these widely recognized benefits, it is an alternative already used by more than 300 scientific-educational institutions around the world. However, the technique requires a laboratory that meets certain structural characteristics, related to biosafety. Construction and start-up involve significant costs. The main objective of this work is to report our experience at Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina), where a pre-existing space was modified to transform it into a plastination lab, with substantially lower costs than designing and building from scratch would have required.