Some customers insist on whole body preservation for various reasons. Some of these reasons are technical, such as a desire to preserve the reflex circuits that are present in the spinal cord. Some reasons are rationalistic, such as the argument that if they can afford it, then as much information as possible should be preserved because we don't truly know what information is important. Some reasons are emotional. Some reasons are strategic, such as the desire to try to appease government regulators. Finally, some reasons are practical and unavoidable, such as the need to appease other family members.
Preserving the whole body can add quite a bit of additional complexity and cost. Alcor and CI have both had to build custom liquid nitrogen dewars because no off-the-shelf options were available. CI is probably significantly undercharging for whole body and depends on additional new patients to cover ongoing costs.
As the new world leader in brain preservation, we have decided that we need to offer a full spectrum of services. We are developing a whole body option for those who request it. The protocol described below is the latest iteration. It's probably also the final iteration, but we continue to explore alternatives, so it might still change in the future.
Since the brain is clearly far more important than the body, our protocol does not compromise at all on brain preservation quality. Whole body patients get exactly the same brain preservation as everyone else. This includes rapid response, aldehyde perfusion, brain removal, months of submersion in cryoprotectant, and final storage at freezer temperature of -20. The body is separately perfused with aldehyde, injected with stronger aldehyde, desiccated in glycerol, vacuum sealed in a bag, and then stored at refrigerator temperature. The whole body protocol is reminiscent of mummification, but with much better quality. In our judgement, this is currently the best quality possible for whole body.