Anatomical specimen procurement & preparation

We know you care about the quality, safety, and availability of specimens to meet your specific research and educational needs.
Specimen assistance

Quality & safety are always our top priority

As the world’s largest non-transplant anatomical donation organization (NADO), we work with thousands of medical research and educational organizations both domestically and internationally. We deliver quality specimens to meet your specification needs.

Specimen preparation options

Science Care has a variety of specimen preparation and preservation options available.  We are able to accommodate almost any request, so please reach out if you have additional requirements not outlined below.  

  • Fresh Never Frozen
  • Fresh Frozen
  • Embalmed
  • Formalin Flushed
  • Formalin Fixed
  • Red/Blue Injected
  • Red Injected
  • Flash Frozen
  • Saline Soaked
  • Saline Flushed
  • Phosphate-Buffered Saline (PBS)
  • Ethanol

Transcription: Our client needs guide us, and we love the challenge. We collaborate with our clients on custom procedures to deliver a specific result. We provide specialized embalming, formalin fixation, red/blue silicone injection, various freezing options, and other customized procurement services. Our team is here to work with you on your specialized procurement and preservation needs. We partner with you to ensure a successful outcome for your event, research, or training.

Special criteria & availability

Science Care is the largest non-transplant anatomical donation organization in the world. We are able to meet almost any request for specific criteria, as it relates to age, sex, BMI, weight, disease requirements, low post mortem requirements, etc. If you require restrictive criteria, lead time is key. Call us today to discuss your specific requirements, and the lead time required to meet your needs.

Transcription: We work with clients all the time who have special criteria for procurement, preservation, scanning, or specimen types. Some require long-term storage agreements, multi-use projects, and custom preservation techniques. Our goal is to make your life easier. Challenge our team to add value for your program. Give us a call — we’re here for you.

Low post mortem & biospecimens

Our donor program, coupled with our seven locations throughout the United States, allows us the ability to procure specimens with low post mortem intervals.  This allows for quicker preservation and quicker delivery of fresh specimens.

We have the ability to recover organs or specimens as early as 4 hours post mortem. We can recover the organs and specimens to ship immediately upon procurement, or preserve them in your preservation method of choice and ship them at a later date. We work with logistics partners who can re-ice or monitor the temperature of the shipment throughout the entire logistics process.

See examples of low post-mortem specimens that can be recovered

Common myths and misconceptions

Last-minute tissue orders

Myth: “I have a last minute event booking for tomorrow. There is no way I can get the specimen I need. Is there?”

False — we are experts at making it happen! With the world's largest donor program, we can and do fulfill last-minute requests. More lead time is preferred, but we love a challenge.

Highly specialized tissue requests

Myth: “I need eight, 40-year-old female specimens with intact uterus next week. No problem, right?”

Not so. The typical donor follows the natural death demographics in the country, so donors are equally male to female but on average 72 years old. This kind of request would do well with as much lead time as possible for the tissue bank.

Specimens with a history of surgery

Myth: “I can’t work with a tissue specimen with a history of surgery.”

Not true. Many donors have some sort of surgical history, but if you are running a knee course, specimens with previous ankle surgery may be fine for your program and help Science Care to honor the intent of donation by placing the tissue.

Multi-specimen tissue order requests

Myth: “It’s difficult to fulfill my regular, multi-specimen tissue needs.”

Actually, with a large donor program, we are able to fulfill nearly every need. The more lead time you give, the better we are able to respond.

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