Vacuum-Sealed Hot Water Bath Immersion for the Preparation of Anatomical and Surgical Cadaveric Bone Models

Summary

The present protocol describes the maceration and cleaning of cadaveric bone with a vacuum-sealed, hot water bath immersion technique. This is a low-cost, safe, and effective method to produce anatomical specimens for surgical planning and medical education as an alternative to three-dimensional (3D) printed models.

Abstract

Bone models serve many purposes, including improving anatomical understanding, preoperative surgical planning, and intraoperative referencing. Several techniques for the maceration of soft tissues have been described, mainly for forensic analysis. For clinical research and medical use, these methods have been superseded by three-dimensional (3D) printed models, which require substantial equipment and expertise, and are costly. Here, cadaveric sheep vertebral bone was cleaned by vacuum sealing the specimen with commercial dishwashing detergent, immersing in a hot water bath, and subsequently manually removing the soft tissue. This eliminated the disadvantages of the previously existing maceration methods, such as the existence of foul odors, usage of hazardous chemicals, substantial equipment, and high costs. The described technique produced clean, dry samples while maintaining anatomical detail and structure to accurately model the osseous structures that can be useful for preoperative planning and intraoperative referencing. The method is simple, low-cost, and effective for bone model preparation for education and surgical planning in veterinary and human medicine.

Introduction

Removing soft tissue and cleaning bones are required for forensics, medical and biological research, and veterinary and medical education. Most techniques have been developed for forensic purposes, minimizing damage to the bone to preserve as much detail as possible. This can provide an accurate, tangible bone model for preoperative surgical planning, as well as intraoperative decision-making to help minimize complications^1,2,3. This is beneficial in surgery by reducing operation times and blood loss and improving communication between surgeons, compared....

Protocol

Lumbar spines were harvested from 4-year-old Merino cross adult ewes (Ovis aries) following the ethical guidelines of the Animal Care and Ethics Committee of the Surgical and Orthopaedic Research Laboratories. Following the institutionally approved method of humane euthanasia, the lumbar spines were harvested using a sharp dissection tool, first incising through the skin and subcutaneous tissues, followed by fascia and musculature prior to disarticulation at the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral junctions. A harvest.......

Discussion

This technical note aims to describe a simple, safe, and low-cost method to produce an anatomical bone model for the benefit of veterinary and medical education and for use in anatomical education and surgical planning.

Pilot testing found that a bath temperature of 70 °C provided the fastest processing time without causing damage to the samples. Higher temperatures caused an extensive breakdown of collagen within the bone, resulting in brittle samples with a chalky texture. The hot bath.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Dimension Elite 3D printer	Stratasys, Eden Prairie, MN, United States		3D printer for production of surgical bone models based on reconstructed CT scans
Mimics Innovation Suite	Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium	Suite 24	Software to create 3D models from imaging scans
Nylon cable ties	4Cabling, Alexandria, NSW, Australia	011.060.1042/011.060.1039	Used to maintain connection between vertebral bodies
Orthopaedic wire	B Braun, Bella Vista, NSW, Australia		Used to maintain connection between vertebral bodies
Support Cleaning Apparatus	Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies, Tempe, AZ, United States	SCA-1200	Hot water bath for immersion of the sealed sample.
Ultra Strength Original Dishwashing Liquid	Colgate-Palmolive, New York, NY, United States		Dishwashing liquid added to sealed bag with sample for cleaning of the bone model.
Vacuum bags	Pacfood PTY LTD		Heat safe, sealable plastic bags
Vacuum Food sealer	Tempoo (Aust) PTY LTD		Vacuum food sealer to seal vacuum bags prior to bath immersion