Casting Materials and their Application in Research and Teaching
Date
2014-04Author
Haenssgen, Kati
Makanya, Andrew N
Djonov, Valentin
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
From a biological point of view, casting refers to filling of anatomical and/or pathological spaces with extraneous material that reproduces a three-dimensional replica of the space. Casting may be accompanied by additional procedures such as corrosion, in which the soft tissue is digested out, leaving a clean cast, or the material may be mixed with radiopaque substances to allow x-ray photography or micro computed topography (µCT) scanning. Alternatively, clearing of the surrounding soft tissue increases transparency and allows visualization of the casted cavities. Combination of casting with tissue fixation allows anatomical dissection and didactic surgical procedures on the tissue. Casting materials fall into three categories namely, aqueous substances (India ink, Prussian blue ink), pliable materials (gelatins, latex, and silicone rubber), or hard materials (methyl methacrylates, polyurethanes, polyesters, and epoxy resins). Casting has proved invaluable in both teaching and research and many phenomenal biological processes have been discovered through casting. The choice of a particular material depends inter alia on the targeted use and the intended subsequent investigative procedures, such as dissection, microscopy, or µCT. The casting material needs to be pliable where anatomical and surgical manipulations are intended, and capillary-passable for ultrastructural investigations.
URI
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9240688&fileId=S1431927613014050http://hdl.handle.net/11295/73636
Citation
Microscopy and Microanalysis / Volume 20 / Issue 02 / April 2014, pp 493-513Publisher
University of Nairobi