A new technique of human body embalming and preservation at room temperature and dry storage
Authors: Masuko Telma Sumie , dos Santos Andrade Lucas , Ottone Nicolás Ernesto , Baptista Carlos Augusto Camargo , Barros Mirna Duarte 
Published: June 2021

Introduction

The study of the anatomy inevitably requires the use of real human cadaver, for its dissection, prosection and research. The support with technological methods, such as virtual dissection tables, three‐dimensional animation programs or the implementation of 3D printers are very useful to complement the study of the anatomy in the corpse, but they will never replace it. During the last years, a large number of variants of fixation and preservation liquids have been proposed with reduced formalin levels, due to their toxicity and the complication in the handling involved in their use and also in seeking alternative methods to preserve the body in the most similar way to the fresh cadaver, from its morphology, texture and mobility.

Objective

Present a new formula of fixation and conservation that allows the body to be preserved with its morphological and mobility characteristics similar to the fresh cadaver, but ensuring its fixation and conservation over time, maintaining at room temperature.

Material and Methods

We use a 69 years old female body donated, was embalmed using a new solution based on Baptista et al (1986) with embalming pump. We cut the hair and pubic hair, washed the cadaver with germicide solution (attention to pubic, axillae and neck areas). The formula used was: alcohol 1000 ml; phenol 1000 ml; glycerin 1000 ml; sodium nitrate 1000 ml; formaldehyde 2000 ml; distilled water 14000 ml. Due to the difficulty of diffusion of the solution in this specific cadaver, it was necessary to make several accesses (right and left femoral, common carotids and axillaries arteries) and complementary injections of formaldehyde at 20% in muscles of arms and legs and a bilateral access by infraorbital area to reach the cranial cavity. After injection, the cadaver was maintained at room temperature (without air conditioning), ranged between 20.1 – 32.1 °C (68.1 – 89.8 °F) and the humidity (45 – 94) in a body bag and covered with blackout sheet. We collected samples from four different tissues, after 130 days and after 150 days post embalming: 1. skin and subcutaneous (next to right costal margin); 2. Rectus abdominismuscle; 3. Liver (quadrate lobe); and 4. Transverse colon. The samples were fixed in formaldehyde at 20% and submitted to histological HE staining.

Results

This method resulted in soft and flexible cadavers with almost natural colours (Figs. 1, 2). The histological analysis indicated the preservation of tissue and cellular structure in the different samples examined, even after 150 days of fixation (Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6).

Conclusion

The cadaver preservation technique presented is inexpensive, easy to perform and effective in maintaining the morphological characteristics of the anatomical specimen for an extended period of time. It presents, therefore, as an alternative to the centers of education and research in anatomy that need to deal with the toxicity of the fixing products and with the costs of obtaining and maintaining anatomical specimens.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.