O uso de polivinil acetato (PVAc) na plastinação de peças anatômicas

Abstract

The corpse is the main instrument for anatomy study. However, the corpse use require maintaining the integrity of the material, avoiding its deterioration and natural decomposition. For this, techniques for the conservation of biological tissues are used. The most commonly used nowadays is formaldehyde fixation and preservation, as it is a low-cost, efficient and fast technique. However, formaldehyde has toxic effects on the environment and humans. In this sense, there is the need to replace the technique of conservation of anatomical specimens in formaldehyde by another less harmful. The conservation of cadavers and anatomical specimens by the plastination process is an alternative process to the fixation in formaldehyde. Through the plastination process the fluids and fats of biological tissues are replaced by a curable polymer. Traditional plastination techniques use silicone or epoxy polymers. Although plastination is an excellent alternative to the use of formaldehyde, its execution is still impracticable in many anatomy laboratories, because traditional plastination techniques are of high financial cost. This work evaluated the use of polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) as an alternative curable polymer for the production of plastinated anatomical specimens. The proposed methodology followed the basic stages of conventional plastination, with adaptations for PVAc: fixation in formaldehyde 10%, ethanol dehydration, PVAc impregnation and cure. The specimens submitted to the proposed technique were successfully plastinated, preserving their anatomical structures and facilitating their maintence and handling. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that PVAc is efficient as polymer in plastination. Besides that, the proposed technique has innovative potential for the use of low-cost materials and equipment and for allowing a significantly reduce in the use of formaldehyde as a conservative of biological tissues.