Summary
The 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.
Keywords
Histological section preparation - ultramill - staining techniques decalcification
- microangiography
