NEW USES OF PLASTINATION IN BONE-HISTOLOGY

The plastination techniques, originally developed for macroscopy, were modified in order to prepare plastinated sections for microscopy. A p articularly good penetration of the specimen occurred during the prepa ration of the histological section when the described techniques for f reeze substitution, defatting and forced impregnation with resin were employed. The different polymer mixtures were compared, in order to de termine their particular advantages and disadvantages. The sectioning technique and the use of histological stains were described both for t he undecalcified, as well as decalcified bones. The production of a de plastinated thin section presents a particular problem which can be ad dressed by this method. The modified Spalteholz technique with decalci fication of sections and ''Nach-Plastination'' was described for the p reparation of plane-parallel standardized sections for morphometric ex amination 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 s hown. The validity of different microangiographic techniques could be determined only through the use of the further-developed Spalteholz an d plastination techniques. Thus, the plastination technique appears to be an especially useful procedure for the examination of microscopy s pecimens. It is recommended as well for other disciplines unrelated to bone, for example in pathology and anatomy.