INTRODUCTION

Overview:

The 10^th Interim Conference on Plastination was held on the Health Science Campus of the University of Toledo, in Toledo, Ohio, from July 9-12, 2011.  More than 70 participants (representing 27 countries) attended the four-day conference. The meeting brought together a wide range of distinguished experts as well as novices with an interest in plastination.

Among our distinguish faculty were Dr. Gunther von Hagens, Dr. Robert W. Henry, Dr. Christoph von Horst, Dr. Kees H. de Jong, Dr. Ameed Raoof and Dr. Mircea-Constantin Sora.  The conference followed the tradition of previous interim meetings. It targeted the novice learner in plastination with oral presentations on the basic principles of plastination and a hands-on workshop.  In addition, the more experienced plastinators had the opportunity to learn about new advances in polymer and plastination presented by Dr. von Hagens and Vladimir Chereminsky. Attendees were able to view an exhibit of plastinated specimens from laboratories around the world including several specimens from Dr. von Hagens.

Program:

The scientific component of the program extended over four days.  The morning sessions were devoted to oral presentations and the afternoons were dedicated to the hands-on workshop.  Each day began with a questions/answer session regarding the workshop held on the previous afternoon.  Participants were also provided time within each day’s schedule to review scientific posters.

The conference opened with welcoming messages from the President of the University of Toledo and the Dean of the College of Medicine at the University.  This was followed by a message to the plastination community by Rurik von Hagens, who addressed the audience on behalf of Dr. von Hagens. (See letter on page18-in this journal).

The keynote address, “New Dissection Techniques: Reasons and Details of a New Dissection Technique for the Manufacturing of Plastinates”, was delivered by Vladimir Chereminsky on behalf of Dr. Gunther von Hagens. He compared the traditional anatomical dissection based on removal of structures with the dissection methods of open body doors, open drawers, shifting of fragments and side by side presentation of systems. “Students are mentally forced to close the expanded plastinate in their minds which is an active mental process, facilitating learning” according to Dr. Chereminsky and Dr. von Hagens “Plastination of Fetuses and Brain Specimens without Shrinkage” was presented by Dr. Chereminsky and Dr. von Hagens with emphasis on the fixation and impregnation (infiltration) of polymer, resulting in fetuses with less wrinkles and brains with less shrinkage.

The oral sessions of the first day was dedicated to the basic principles of plastination. The session began with an overview of plastination (Dr. Baptista) followed by dehydration (Dr. Henry), impregnation (Dr. Sora), curing (Dr. Henry) and room temperature plastination (Dr. Raoof). This session provided a technical basis for the afternoon workshop.  The day ended with a tour of the Plastination Exhibit and a reception sponsored by the University of Toledo Alumni Affiliate.

Presentations on the second day focused on technical aspects of epoxy technique (E12) sheet plastination (Dr. Constantin Sora) and polyester technique (P40) (Dr. Kees de Jong).  A demonstration on the Epoxy Sandwich technique was done by Dr. Sora in the auditorium. This session provided a technical basis for the afternoon workshop. In the evening, participants were treated to a delightful reception and small group tours at the Toledo Museum of Art, an internationally known museum with a collection of more than 30000 works of art.

On the third day, a keynote address entitled “From Universities to Primary Schools – A user-Oriented Approach to Plastination” was presented by Dr. Christoph von Horst. A subsequent presentation focused on the technical aspects of a flat chamber method of P40 technique, demonstrated by Dr. Constantin Sora. A new polyester technique for sheet plastination (P50) was introduced by Dr. von Hagens. The day ended with a gala dinner at the Maumee Bay Resort & Conference Center situated along Lake Erie, one of the five great lakes in the United States.

The last day of the conference was devoted to issues of Safety and Health and how to setup a plastination lab.  A presentation on “Safety and Hazardous Issues in Plastination” was provided by Dr. Michael Valigosky, Director of Safety and Health at the University of Toledo. Following the presentation, a lively open discussion followed concerning the ethics and the use of plastinates. There were several other oral presentations, posters and specimens exhibited by attendees of the conference

Workshop

The hands-on workshop was held in the afternoons and complemented the didactic sessions presented in the mornings. The workshop was designed to expose the novice to plastination and the following aspects of the technique:

• Day 1 - dehydration (freeze substitution in -25 C acetone), and impregnation (cold and room temperature).
• Day 2 polyester technique. Slice a fixed brain on a meat slicer and an unfixed leg on a bend saw for polyester impregnation. Construct a glass chamber to and cast a brain slice with P40.
• Day 3 dismantling and sawing P40 slices and curing of silicone (cold and room temperature). In addition P50 technique was introduced by Dr. von Hagens impregnating leg slices.
• Day 4 - final room temperature and cold curing manipulation, and wrapping specimens for transportation was reviewed.

Instructors for the workshop included several ISP members: Kees de Jong, Steven Labrash, Robert Henry, Gunther von Hagens, Christoph von Horst, Ameed Raoof, Constantine Sora, and Carlos Baptista.