A biomechanical comparison of fresh-frozen and Thiel embalmed feet : opening innovative opportunities for the study of human foot anatomy

Abstract

In-vitro biomechanical testing of the human foot often involves the use of fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens which are subjected to a series of experiments in the loaded/unloaded state in order to investigate various interventions which would otherwise be detrimental to human subjects, since these have the closest attributes similar to actual living human tissue. The Thiel method of embalming maintains soft tissue consistency similar to that of living tissue, however its suitability for biomechanical testing is unknown. There have been no studies investigating the kinematic and kinetic behaviour of the embalmed foot as a whole structure, nor have these been compared to the behaviour of fresh-frozen specimens. In our kinematic and kinetic comparison of 3 Thiel embalmed feet compared to 3 fresh frozen samples obtained from the same cadavers, we found no significant differences. This will open innovative opportunities for the utilization of these specimens in applications related to the investigation of dynamic foot function, both in research and education.