Bovine heart

Like a human heart — both literally and metaphorically — bovine hearts are soft, and need to be treated with care. Flipping the heart over results in a change of shape, which would make an accurate scan difficult. And while we can’t say we always recommend hardening your heart for optimal results, in the case of scanning it works like a charm.

Having frozen the heart, we left it to thaw for 15 minutes right before we scanned it. This checked two boxes: the thawing cleared away any ice crystals left on the surface, while the still-frozen nature of the heart kept it solid and firm. Scanning with the Artec Space Spider went quickly and smoothly with a heart that could be captured on both sides.

For future heart-scanning situations, here’s another method that could be used: hanging the heart in mid-air, and capturing it in one scan.