New Uses of Plastination in Bone Histology

Abstract

SummaryThe plastination techniques, originally developed for macroscopy, were modified in order to prepare plasti-nated sections for microscopy. A particularly good penetration of the specimen occurred during the preparation of the histological section when the described techniques for freeze substitution, defatting and forced impregnation with resin were employed. The different polymer mixtures were compared, in order to determine their particular advantages and disadvantages. The sectioning technique and the use of histological stains were described both for the undecalcified, as well as decalcified bones. The production of a deplastinated thin section presents a particular problem which can be addressed by this method. The modified Spalteholz technique with decalcification of sections and “Nach-Plastination” was described for the preparation of plane-parallel standardized sections for morphometric examination of the vascular structure of the bone.The possible uses of plastination, for running histological examination procedures such as fluorescence microscopy, microangiography and microradiography, were shown. The validity of different microangiographic techniques could be determined only through the use of the further-developed Spalteholz and plastination techniques. Thus, the plastination technique appears to be an especially useful procedure for the examination of microscopy specimens. It is recommended as well for other disciplines unrelated to bone, for example in pathology and anatomy.The plastination is a very modern technique to produce anatomical teaching specimens and to prepare tissue very naturally without artefacts. Some technical modifications allow the transfer to histologic preparations including bone histology.