What is “perfusion”?

Perfusion is the process of introducing a chemical to the brain or other organs through the vascular system. It’s quite an efficient way to rapidly deliver chemicals, since the body is already designed to get blood close to every cell in your body to deliver oxygen and nutrients. All the neurons in your brain are especially close to blood vessels because they require a tremendous amount of sugar and oxygen to work. Both 21st Century Medicine and Dr. Mikula use perfusion to deliver their brain preserving chemicals to all parts of the brain, cryoprotectants in 21st Century’s case, and fixatives in Dr. Mikula’s case.