From "silent teachers" to models

For decades, embalmed cadavers have played an important role in teaching anatomy to the scientists and doctors of the future. Most anatomy departments use a traditional formaldehyde-based embalming method, but formalin embalming makes the bodies very rigid, which limits their usefulness for procedures other than dissection. A more recent embalming method developed by W. Thiel has allowed these "silent teachers" to take on a further role in applied anatomy research and teaching: to act as models for surgical training and medical research

Age-old Question(naire)s

Older people are an important and growing sector of the population, yet are often excluded by design. It is important to find out more about this user group so that they can be included effectively. As a first step towards this, we carried out a questionnaire and interview study in Scotland with 353 participants over the age of 50, investigating their use of and attitude towards technology. This is a method which can be very useful yet also fraught with difficulties. This paper therefore discusses how it can be used effectively, observing in particular the use of survey interviews in extracting more indepth information. It also describes the study and some of its results, discussing trends in technology use among older people and possible reasons for these trends, noting in particular the effect of technology age and complexity. It also discusses the implications for designers. 1

Age-old Question(naire)s

Older people are an important and growing sector of the population, yet are often excluded by design. It is important to find out more about this user group so that they can be included effectively. As a first step towards this, we carried out a questionnaire and interview study in Scotland with 353 participants over the age of 50, investigating their use of and attitude towards technology. This is a method which can be very useful yet also fraught with difficulties. This paper therefore discusses how it can be used effectively, observing in particular the use of survey interviews in extracting more indepth information. It also describes the study and some of its results, discussing trends in technology use among older people and possible reasons for these trends, noting in particular the effect of technology age and complexity. It also discusses the implications for designers. 1

Common body preservation methods and their key characteristics.

<p>Common body preservation methods and their key characteristics.</p

In the first step of the embalming process, the body is perfused with embalming fluids via the vascular system.

<p>Drawing by Emmanouil Kapazoglou.</p