Tissue shrinkage after P45 plastination

2Dalian Hoffen BioTechnique Co. Ltd., Dalian . ABSTRACT: Plastination is a method of preserving biological tissues with a curable polymer. Sheet plastination is a method of preparing plastinated tissue slices for education and research. Both epoxy and polyester sheet plastination are currently used. P45 sheet plastination produces an intact, semi-transparent anatomical structure, with well highlighted connective tissue. There is little information in the literature regarding the physical properties of P45 plastinated specimens. Shrinkage during plastination is to be expected. In this study we present data on the shrinkage of the following P45 plastinated tissue slices: eight head and neck sections, five thoracic sections, eight abdominal sections, five pelvic sections, and three arm sections. The standard P45 protocol was followed, and a digital image of the specimens was taken before and after the plastination process. Analysis of the images showed that shrinkage varied between 6.39 (±3.9) % for cerebral cortex, and 19.86 (±1.68) % for lung tissue.