He bought his own rotary-blade cutter and began slicing kidneys, placing them in a liquid plastic and using a vacuum to extract air bubbles.
That became the basis of his full-body plastination - a technique by which organs and whole bodies are preserved intact. In essence, the process involves replacing water and fat with plastics to create a specimen that does not decay.
The first step is to inject the body with formaldehyde, then it is immersed in a special solution and put in a vacuum chamber so it takes up the plastic, before being hardened with gas, light or heat. The process takes about a year.
The technique has made von Hagens famous throughout the world. His Body World exhibition has racked up 25 million visitors across the globe and more than 800,000 went to see it in London in 2002-03.
Von Hagens claims it performs a valuable educational role, showing how the body works.
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