Plastic realistic

SINGAPORE – Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) new medical school will be pioneering the use of plastinated bodies for medical education in Singapore.

Plastinated bodies are human bodies which people have pledged towards the learning and advancement of science upon their death and are preserved through plastination. These human bodies are preserved by replacing the fat and water in body tissues with plastic.

The human bodies and body parts, known as specimens, will be used in anatomy classes taught at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), and will be ready for the first batch of 54 medical students this August.

The new medical school, jointly set up by NTU and Imperial College London, had ordered the human bodies and specimens from Germany, which were prepared to the school’s specifications. There are two whole bodies and various body parts such as hearts, lungs, brains, limbs and torsos.

With the use of plastinated bodies and specimens, traditionally preserved cadavers which are in short supply in Singapore, will no longer be needed by LKCMedicine.

There are many distinct advantages of using plastinated specimens over traditional cadavers, making it an excellent teaching tool. Top medical schools around the world that use plastinated specimens include Warwick University in UK and New York University in the United States.

These advantages include excellent quality and exceptional durability of the specimens; “high-resolution” intricate details of arteries, veins, muscle and nerves and greater flexibility of use both inside and outside of the classroom, including the ability to interface with computer software.

Asst Prof Dinesh Srinivasan holding a plastinated human heart, with body parts (from left) left arm, brain and head

Asst Professor Dinesh Kumar Srinivasan, the Lead for Anatomy Teaching at LKCMedicine, said the plastinated human specimens are excellent tools for teaching gross anatomy and neuroanatomy, as it is durable, safe and non-toxic.

“These highly detailed, plastinated human specimens are very durable and can be repeatedly handled by students without deterioration and it can be stored  just like any inert object,” Prof Srinivasan said. “They may be used in a much broader range of educational settings, since we no longer have to take extra steps to re-preserve the body in embalming chemicals, as we would need to for traditional cadavers each time they are used in class.

nike sb