E12 technique: Conventional epoxy resin sheet plastination

Abstract

| INTRODUC TI ONEpoxy sheet plastination allows studying specimens and tissues at the sub-gross and microscopic levels without altering the original topography of the anatomical structures. This is possible because the sectioning of the specimen hardly changes the position of the tissues, the thickness of the section is around 2-3 mm, and the fresh cured epoxy resin is completely transparent. These properties, which allow a perfect correlation of the plastinated slices with images from imaging techniques such as CT and MRI, cannot be achieved by the conventional silicone techniques.The main steps of the E12 epoxy plastination techniques are similar to those of all plastination techniques, with the addition of sectioning during the specimen preparation. Specimen preparation (fixation-optional) includes ultrafreezing and sectioning, dehydration and degreasing, impregnation and casting/curing. The time of the whole process depends on the size and type of specimen, but in the case of small anatomical regions, it is approximately 3-4 weeks.It is important to highlight that epoxy plastination is suitable for any organ or tissue, even brain, when it comes as part of head sections. However, for brains, polyester (P40) technique is a better alternative as it was designed specifically for plastinated brain AbstractEpoxy plastination techniques were developed to obtain thin transparent body slices with high anatomical detail. This is facilitated because the plastinated tissue is transparent and the topography of the anatomical structures well preserved. For this reason, thin epoxy slices are currently used for research purposes in both macroscopic and microscopic studies. The protocol for the conventional epoxy technique (E12) follows the main steps of plastination-specimen preparation, dehydration, impregnation and curing/casting. Preparation begins with selection of the specimen, followed by freezing and slicing. Either fresh or fixed (embalmed) tissue is suitable for epoxy plastination, while slice thickness is kept between 1.5 and 3 mm. Impregnation mixture is made of epoxy E12 resin plus E1 hardener (100 ppw; 28 ppw). This mixture is reactive and temperature sensitive, and for this reason, total impregnation time under vacuum at room laboratory temperature should not last for more than 20-24 hr. Casting of impregnated slices is done in either flat chambers or by the so-called sandwich method in either fresh mixture or the one used for impregnation.Curing is completed at 40°C to allow a complete polymerization of the epoxy-mixture. After curing, slices can be photographed, scanned or used for anatomical study under screen negatoscope, magnification glass or fluorescent microscope. Based on epoxy sheet plastination, many anatomical papers have recent observations of and/ or clarification of anatomical concepts in different areas of medical expertice.

The dynamic impact behavior of the human neurocranium

“…( B ) Crosado-embalmed and subsequently E12-plastinated cross-sections (horizontal plane) of a human adult head illustrates the varying thicknesses of the neurocranium in various regions. The asterisk (*) indicates a shrinkage-related artefact in the subdural space, which is caused by the dehydration and degreasing steps of both the Crosado embalming 27 and the E12 plastination 28 . …”

Description of the technological process of creation anatomical macro-prepartments of parencymatous organs by plastination method (literature review)

“…Опираясь на работы Гюнтера Фон Хагенса, Latorre R. и соавт. описана техника пластинации «Е12» [5]. Методика имеет много общих черт с классическим способом пластинации.…”

“…Полностью дегидратация считалась завершённой спустя 5-7 дней. За это время смена ацетона проводилась 3 раза по мере снижения его концентрации до 98 % [5].…”

The Alar Fascia and Danger Space: A Modern Review

“…During the process of plastination, soft tissue structures shrink, allowing for easy visualization of the fascial plane that is otherwise lost by conventional dissection measures [ 24 ]. Sheet plastinates can be observed under magnification to identify the structure of interest and its correlating histology [ 26 ]. Prior to the work of Scali et al, the alar fascia was never described in this manner; these findings were later verified by multiple follow-up studies [ 6 , 8 , 12 , 13 , 27 ].…”