A plastinated "corrosion cast" of the blood supply in a horse's foot is created from the foot of a cadaver. Plastic is injected into the veins and, after removing the hoof capsule and processing away any non-vascular tissue, what is left is virtually a three-dimensional venogram. Hoofcare and Lameness began offering these for sale on a special order basis on December 1, 2009.
This over-exposed and light-enhanced image of a corrosion casting shows the delicate structure of the blood supply inside the hoof capsule.Some of you may have seen the half-hoof cast that has been on display in the Hoofcare and Lameness booth for the past year. Everyone wanted it, but I couldn't sell it.
The cost for a whole hoof corrosion casting to the USA is $280 plus air shipping from Germany, which is probably about $20 since the cast does not weigh much, but does require a lot of protective packaging.
These models are fragile and little bits have been falling off mine for the past year but it still looks wonderful. Dr. Von Horst warns that this "shedding" of plastic particles is inevitable and unavoidable. It probably doesn't help that my sample travels from trade show to trade show and is handled a lot.
The plastic is quite resilient, but these models should be handled with care. It's hard to imagine a better tool to explain why a venogram is needed, or as an asset to an anatomy class.
If you would like to order a vascular cast or any type of plastination model, please contact Hoofcare and Lameness by calling 978 281 3222 or emailing fran@hoofcare.com. Advanced payment by Visa or Mastercard is required.
© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.
