Method for Creating Interactive Plastinated Models of the Male and Female Pelvis for Medical Anatomy Education

Abstract

: The purpose of this study was to develop a plastinated model of a male and female pelvis that could be manipulated to allow students to remove organs, blood vessels and nerves from the pelvis. The pelvis of one male (70 years old) and one female (75 years old, para 2), with no known pelvic surgery or disease, were dissected by removing the organs, major arterial trunks and sacral nerves individually. All of the soft tissue was removed from the bony pelvis in each, except for the muscles of the pelvic floor, obturator membrane, sacrotuberous ligaments and sacrospinous ligaments. The erectile tissues were also dissected and removed en bloc. The pelvic components were then plastinated to replace the tissue fluids with silicone. The resulting plastinated pelvic models accurately represent the anatomy of the male and female pelvis, with removable parts. The dissection and plastination technique require a skilled dissector, a plastination lab, and can be repeated as necessary to represent desired pelvic anatomy variability. The plastinated pelvic models also resulted in excellent scanned images that were then used to print 3D models.