Is this available for faces?
Dutch doctors replace woman's skull with 3D-printed plastic copy
Doctors at the University Medical Center in Utrecht have saved a woman's life – by carrying out the first skull transplant using plastic parts built in a 3D printer. The unnamed 22-year-old patient was suffering from a rare condition that caused the inside of her skull to grow extra bone, which squeezed her brain. The growth …
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Saturday 29th March 2014 08:05 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: I want...
Titanium dissolves in blood over time and is actually poisonous - but since the process of it dissolving is so slow, the health impact of it is manageable. Surgical grade stainless steel is probably a better bet. Not only is it less poisonous as it dissolves, but it is also considerably stronger per unit volume (but also heavier).
The only problem you might have is that if you go up against someone with Magneto-like powers, you'll be in a lot more trouble with steel than with titanium.
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Saturday 29th March 2014 18:37 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/thumb_up_32.png
Re: I want...
Not sure about that. Ti is generally regrded as very biocompatible; it's so reactive that it is covered instantly with a stable, unreactive oxide layer. In general, the problem is achieving any chemical bond between Ti and anything in the body, though there are some applications (eg dental implants) where a titanium component 'osseo integrates', forming a mechanically strong connection to bone.
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Saturday 29th March 2014 08:09 GMT Fruit and Nutcase
Re: I want...
Have a word with D̶a̶m̶i̶e̶n̶ ̶H̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ Jack du Rose. He may be able to help.
"I was commissioned through a third party, it wasn't a collaboration.I had no idea it was for Damien until a friend rang me up and told me it was on the front page of the Sunday papers", says du Rose, 30, who has worked with the jeweller Stephen Webster. "I just assumed it was for some oligarch to use as a bookend."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/the-diary-jack-du-rose-nicholas-lloyd-webber-david-hockney-russell-kane-6263562.html
http://www.durosefinejewellery.com
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Monday 31st March 2014 08:54 GMT wowfood
Re: I want...
Only issue is they spy satellites. If people with metal fillings can pick up radiowaves, imagine what you could pick up with an entire skull made of metal. They could use you to intercept enemy transmissions, or you could attach a wire from your head to your phone to boost signal strength.
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Monday 31st March 2014 13:23 GMT sisk
Re: I want...
Lucy certainly heard something. Most likely the origin was biological though. I've no doubt that metal in the body can pick up radio waves. Actually doing anything with them is another matter, and allowing people with metal fillings to interpret them with no additional electronics is pure fiction.
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Saturday 29th March 2014 07:26 GMT David 45
Great achievement
This is obviously what 3D printing is REALLY for! Great stuff to use it to save a life. Presumably the scalp, complete with hair is somehow reinstated? It would have been good to have a bit more in-depth information in a separate article or video, as this type of pioneering work (though possibly a tad gruesome in parts!) fascinates me.
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Monday 31st March 2014 06:58 GMT Alex Rose
Re: Great achievement
An incision is likely to have been made in the scalp at the back of the head; the scalp (including hair of course) will then have been rolled forward exposing the skull. After the operation roll back and stitch up. Hey presto!
Now if someone can explain to me why there were rows of holes in the implant...
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Tuesday 1st April 2014 21:51 GMT sisk
Re: I am obliged to admit that I wimped out and could not bring myself.......
Don't feel bad. I didn't watch it either. Suffice it to say that there's a reason that I'm one of the few in my family for 2 generations to not work in the medical field. (My parents and 3 of their collective 5 siblings are in the medical field, as is one of my two sisters. My baby sister is still in college majoring in biology. She may not go into medicine, but it'll probably be close enough.)
Still, quite an accomplishment this.
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Saturday 29th March 2014 17:06 GMT John Smith 19
OMFG I've not seen that gag pulled since Doctor Who.
With Phillip Madoc in (IIRC) The Brain of Morbius.
This women now has a skull made out of the sort of stuff they make the safety panels in taxi cabs out of.
Obviously time will tell if this is a good idea or not, but I wish her well.
But you do have to wonder what happens if she stands between someone and a bright light....
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Saturday 29th March 2014 21:19 GMT Bronek Kozicki
this is very impressive
We get more of rocket science than neural surgery here, and even though it is arguable how much of neural surgery this was, I'm very impressed. The view of (partially) exposed brain of a living human sent shivers down my spine.
I hope she pulls through with no complications and restored to full health.
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Sunday 30th March 2014 20:21 GMT Goldmember
Frigging awesome
These articles make me smile. It's reassuring to know that amongst the patent trolls, scam artists and general twats who inhabit this Earth and dominate the headlines, there are teams of people like this, using technology to do great things, things which just 5 years ago were unimaginable.
A fantastic achievement all round.
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Sunday 30th March 2014 21:23 GMT Eddy Ito
Just wow
I wonder how much the weight difference is. The chunk they took out looked pretty thick and was probably fairly heavy. I imagine this has relieved quite a bit of stress on her neck as well as her brain. I hope all works out well and that she never has to endure a repeat procedure in another area.
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Monday 31st March 2014 06:25 GMT John Smith 19
Face/off 17 years after.
This is (loosely) the technology used by John Travolta to impersonate Nicholas Cage in the film.
When it was made the idea of such a structure, and indeed an actual face transplant, were complete science fiction.
Both procedures now exist, not for some government intelligence purpose, but simply to enhance the lives of people otherwise hopelessly injured either by accident or genetics.
That's quite impressive.
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Monday 31st March 2014 09:10 GMT Dr Patrick J R Harkin
"by carrying out the first skull transplant using plastic parts built in a 3D printer."
May I point out that this is an implant, not a transplant? My membership of the British Pedantic Society (soon to be renamed British Society of Pedants, as it's the members who are pedantic, not the society itself) is up for renewal.