Print Yourself a Femur

Scrooge919 writes "Newscientist is running an article about a new 'bone printer' that can be used to replace segments of broken bones. A large segment could be fabricated in about an hour and would be able to support the person's weight. Over the course of about 18 months, the section is absorbed by the body and replaced with real bone."

Comments

A day late . . .

[Leroy_Brown242]

I just spent $7800 for the hospital to put 2 screw in my arm, and am still being told I will most likely never straighten my arm out again.

I would gladly have spent 3 or 4 times that, to just improve my odds of throwing a baseball once more.

I can't wait for Star Trek style medical prcedure where a broken bone is just an annoyance until the good doctor can run an LED flashlight over my skin./p

Sucks...

[Bob Vila's Hammer]

That this technology is probably wonderfully applicable and needed now but won't be approved by the FDA for years, years to come.

Re:Sucks...

[WasteOfAmmo]

As someone with about 6-7 years (I hope) left in my current hip replacement and with the possibility of facing (hopefully) 3-4 more (1 per 10-15 years; based on todays technology and my activity level) I also can wait.

But unfortunately the article does not talk about the possibility of replacing joints or large parts of missing bone (ie. the top of my femur and the part of my socket that was grinded out). Hopefully this technology will progress to the point of providing full joint replacements by the time I am due for my third replacement.

Full joint replacement will be a huge benefit to many of us as we grow older and for those that are not as lucky as I am and can not simply get a replacement but instead face the choice of fusion instead.

I understand from the article how they can use it to replace shattered or destroyed sections but I am not sure that a) whole bones, or b) extensions to existing bones (post joint replacement or trauma) is possible with this procedure. So maybe "Print Yourself a Femur" is going a little far but I hope not.

Merlin. --
3 years of a pain free changed life and counting.

Just wait..

[Anonvmous Coward]

..until body parts become upgradable.

"I just stopped the elevator doors from closing!"

Government

[Orne]

Imagine, there was a time in the USA before the FDA even existed (1930 to be exact). More recently, there was a time when medicine was a private industry in the USA, and people didn't give a rats ass about getting the government's approval for medical devices (1966).

Somehow, in 37 years out of the 227 years this country has existed, the nation now thinks that medical advances can only exist after a lengthy approval process, complete with beurocratic red tape, medicare approval, and gov overhead.

Yes, the government oversees the distribution and purity of drugs, the quality of foodstuffs, and qualifications of our doctors. All that is fine and good. But why have we let ourselves be roped into holding back life-altering discoveries that work just because it doesn't have some commission's stamp on it?

Printing living tissues

[Cochonou]

On a related note, check this older article.
It is about printing tissues with modified inkjet printers, a prospect which seems even more fascinating than artificial bone replacements.

Teeth?

[cperciva]

It seems to me that the ideal application for manufactured bones would be dentistry. After all, teeth are by far the most commonly damaged or destroyed bones. Of course,there are artificial implants right now, but I'm sure many people would prefer to have "real" teeth instead.

My only question: Is this technique applicable to teeth, or is the mouth too hostile an environment?

I'll be impressed when they can print me a whole

[multiplexo]

leg. Or at least the part below the knee that I no longer have. This could be a good thing for a lot of people though, I've met a lot of people who have had bone grafts and they're not pleasant (if you think about it bone and graft are two words that just don't go together) and they don't always work.