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Body Worlds: Fascination beneath the surface
Professor Gunther Von Hagens took part in a web chat on 26 March 2002.
He discussed his fascinating and controversial Body Worlds exhibition
featured on The Anatomists. Read
what was said. Or watch
our exclusive online interview with the professor (requires RealPlayer).
The Body Worlds exhibition displays anatomical specimens preserved by
plastination – a process developed by Professor Gunther von Hagens
at the University of Heidelberg. This process makes it possible to lend
rigidity to soft body parts – for example, individual muscles, organs
such as the lungs, or a single nerve – and even specimens of the
entire body can be stabilised and posed in such a way that they are capable
of standing.
The plastination process
Approximately 70% of the human body consists of fluids, which are
necessary for living and, eventually, for decomposing. During plastination,
decomposition is halted by replacing these fluids with reactive plastics – such as silicone rubber, epoxy resin or polyester resin – in a special
vacuum process. The specimens are dry, odourless and 'graspable', and
as such are suitable both for educating medical students and exhibiting
to the general public.
Types of specimen
It will take over 1,000 hours of dedicated work to produce a 'whole-body'
specimen – a body dissected to expose minute details such as nerve and
muscle fibres. 'Exploded-view' specimens have the body parts shifted in
all directions; 'open-door' specimens are hinged to allow closer inspection
of the innermost realms of the body; and 'open-drawer' specimens have
body parts that can be moved forward to allow a better view.
Another method, sheet plastination, involves cutting slices from a frozen
organ or body before plastination. The thickness of these slices varies – from 5mm for a cross-sectional slice of the abdomen to 3.5mm for slices
of the brain.
Source of specimens
The Institute for Plastination receives specimens from the following sources:
• the bodies of donors who declared during their lives that their
bodies should be plastinated after their deaths
• bodies bequeathed to the Institute by their survivors
• unclaimed corpses provided by local authorities in China and Russia
(for example, public welfare agencies)
• specimens from former anatomical collections, sometimes more than
100 years old
Images: Institute for Plastination, Heidelberg
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