In January 2018, a fascinating project began: to create the world's first anatomical 3D model of the human body with a focus on fascia. The project, the Fascial Net Plastination Project, is a collaboration between the Fascia Research Society, Somatics Academy, Plastinarium, and Body Worlds, and is being carried out at the world-renowned Plastinarium in Güben, Germany. Participating in the project are some of the world's most prominent researchers in fascia and anatomy, led by project manager and fascia researcher Robert Schleip, anatomy professor Carla Stecco, and clinical anatomist John Sharkey. The first ten plastinated specimens from the project were exhibited for the first time at the fifth international Fascia Research Congress in Berlin, Germany, on November 14 and 15, 2018, in the exhibition "Fascia in a NEW LIGHT".
What is plastination?
Plastination is a revolutionary method of halting decomposition and preserving cadaver tissue for study and education. The method was developed in 1977 by the German anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens. The technique involves permanently infusing the tissue with plastic polymers, making it possible to display and study anatomy with a level of detail and durability that was previously impossible. The method became world-famous and recognized through the international touring exhibitions of Body Worlds. By permanently preserving human bodies with this technique, and then placing them in familiar, everyday working postures that highlight their complexity and beauty, the Body Worlds exhibitions opened a door into the secret world of human anatomy. The Body Worlds exhibitions illustrate real human anatomy, making it accessible to everyone.
The Project
Fascia research has undergone a remarkable expansion and growth over the last decade. Various ways of visualizing fascia are being developed to further support education in fascial anatomy. The Human Fascial Net Plastination Project was formed with the ambitious goal of producing a full-body plastinate within three years to display the entire human fascial net in a three-dimensional way. Since this has never been done before, the project has been divided into phases, starting with several smaller specimens of superficial fascia/subcutaneous tissue and also deep fascial structures. First, it was necessary to study how fascia is affected by plastination when it is isolated and separated from adjacent muscle and bone tissue. These first specimens were exhibited to the public at the fifth international Fascia Research Congress, November 14-15, 2018, in Berlin. The team is now continuing to work on creating the larger, full-body fascial plastinate, with the plan to exhibit it at the sixth international Fascia Research Congress, which has now been postponed to 2022 due to Corona. Afterwards, the plastinate will be displayed as a permanent part of the Body Worlds exhibitions.
This project is a major step forward for education and teaching about fascia, the forgotten tissue. The fascial system is not more important than other parts, but fascia is an important part of understanding what our body is, how we feel, and how we move. Although it is a big step forward, these models only show a small part of the fascia, taken out of its whole. In reality, the human fascial net is a unified, continuous structure that completely envelops and penetrates every part of the human form down to the cellular level. In any attempt to isolate it, we lose its fundamental property as a continuous network. As Jean-Claude Guimberteau writes in his book, Architecture of Human Living Fascia (Handspring, 2015), "The connective tissue is, in fact, the constituent tissue. It does not just link the different parts—it is the framework in which the parts develop."
This does not mean we should stop learning from dissection or plastinates. Even through separation, we can learn about connections. Just remember that the real model is the one you see in the mirror every morning—a continuous, seamless, and interconnected form.
