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The SWiMMer, 2001 >

Dr. Gunther von Hagens works on Te Swimmer. shell has been laterally separated into two hal versely, the inner organs have been left as they we the left or right body half, respectively. On the respective sides opposite each organ, cavities indicate the position, form and size of the or-gans that have been removed. Te vertebrae can be seen in the left half, with the esopha-gus in front and the liver and intestines in the abdominal cavity.

Dr. Gunther von Hagens works on Te Swimmer. shell has been laterally separated into two hal versely, the inner organs have been left as they we

In 1977, while serving as a resident and lecturer — the start of a nearly 20-year career at the university’s Insti-tute of Pathology and Anatomy—Dr. von Hagens invented Plastination, his groundbreaking technology for pre-serving anatomical specimens with the use of reactive polymers.

“I was looking at a collection of speci-mens embedded in plastic. It was the most advanced preservation technique then, where the specimens rested deep inside a transparent plastic block. I wondered why the plastic was poured and then cured around the specimens rather than pushed into the cells, which would stabilize the specimens from within and literally allow you to grasp it,” he recalls.

Over the next six years, Dr. von Ha-gens spent all his energies refning his patented invention, which halts de-composition and preserves the body for didactic medical study.

During this time, Dr. von Hagens founded BIODUR Products to distrib-ute the special polymers, equipment and technology used for Plastination

to medical institutions around the globe. Currently, more than 400 insti-tutions in 40 countries worldwide use his invention to preserve anatomical specimens for medical instruction.

In 1992, Dr. von Hagens married Dr. Angelina Whalley, a physician who serves as his business manager as well as the designer of the BODYWORLDS exhibitions. Ayear later, he founded the Institute fo ofers pla mens for e and for BO which prem in 1995. To bitions hav by more million peo cities acro Asia and N Dr. Von Ha with the B exhibitions

“Te anato is assigned role—he is his daily w ject the ta

convictions that people have about death and the dead. I myself am not controversial, but my exhibitions are, because I am asking viewers to tran-scend their fundamental beliefs and convictions about our joint and ines-capable fate.”

Dr. von Hagens is in the process of de-signing the frst anatomy curriculum in the United States using plastinated

maining nature in a manmade envi-ronment,” he says. “I hope for the exhi-bitions to be places of enlightenment and contemplation, even of philosoph-ical and religious self recognition, and open to interpretation regardless of the background and philosophy of life and the viewer.”

“Throughout my career, I have promoted the democratization of anatomy, of demythologizing the body interior not just for the medical and scientific world, but for the general public.” Dr. Gunther von Hagens, Inventor of Plastination and Creator of BODY WORLDS

BODY WORLDS

Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers | June 5, 2007 | B O D Y W O R L D S 3 | 11