Frequently Asked Questions

There is no substitute for human specimens when studying the body for medical education. Physicians, medical educators and students throughout the world rely on human tissue for the most accurate hands on learning and training opportunities available. 

Some examples of these opportunities are:

• Perfecting orthopedic surgical procedures. It is imperative that medical device companies use human specimens in their research and development stage to ensure the success of their product. The newer generation of implants (knee, hip etc) has vastly improved the lives of people in need of joint replacements.
• Advancing minimally invasive surgical techniques. Many of the surgeries that would have left large scars a decade ago now leave scars so small that they are often unnoticeable. Minimally invasive surgery also dramatically decreases the risks to the patient and vastly decreases their recovery time after surgery.
• Surgical training. It is imperative that when learning a new surgical technique, a surgeon can use human specimens as opposed to learning on a patient. Whether it is a surgeon fresh out of school or an experienced surgeon learning a new technique or using a new device for the first time, we can all agree that having this occur in a training environment is preferred.
• Providing students a greater understanding of the human anatomy.  There is no better way to understand the human body and its anatomy than to gain hands on experience. Textbooks and models cannot replicate the learning experience that can be provided by human specimens.

Whether it be studying diseased or non-diseased tissue, human tissue is needed for research at a cellular level. There is no current alternative to human tissue. Some examples of how this tissue is used in research are:

• Understanding disease processes. Medical researchers need human tissue to study the causes of debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, diabetes, cancer etc. It is through this understanding of how these diseases form and progress that they can develop therapies and eventually a cure.
• Creating new pharmaceutical drugs. Before a new pharmaceutical drug is brought to market for the benefit of consumers, the pharmaceutical company will have used around 10,000 histology slides of human tissue.

There is no cost to the donor or their family for the SWIBA program. Additionally, SWIBA pays for the following:

• Cremation at a SWIBA approved funeral home or crematory
• Transportation within the state of Arizona
• Filing of all necessary paperwork
• Shipping of cremains

However, there are many more options available if desired. A few examples of expenses that would NOT be covered by SWIBA are:

• Custom urn
• Memorial service

In most circumstances, the SWIBA donation process is quite extensive. The extent of each donor’s recovery varies depending on the donor’s age, height/weight and previous surgeries. What remains of the donor after the donation process is completed is taken to a funeral home or crematory to be cremated.

Due to the extent of the donation process, a traditional ‘open casket viewing’ is not possible. SWIBA cremates all donors, ruling out traditional burial. However, a closed casket service and burial with the cremains inside the casket is an option. 

Donors are usually in our care for just a few days so donation adds very little, if any time to the cremation process. Cremated remains are usually returned to the family within a few weeks.

Absolutely. SWIBA adheres to strict confidentiality practices. All donors are assigned a unique identification number that is used throughout the donation process to keep the donor’s personal information confidential.