Slashdot Mirror
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."
Subject: [ADV] Print yourself a bigger Penis!!!!
Boy, if you think those InkJet printer cartridges are expensive now.....
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
Pretty Pictures!
That this technology is probably wonderfully applicable and needed now but won't be approved by the FDA for years, years to come.
--"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
lol that would be cool!
we could really BE darth maul for halloween
..until body parts become upgradable.
"I just stopped the elevator doors from closing!"
The problem? FDA won't let the doctors leave it in there. They just got to put it in place and take a few pics before removing it again. So the woman still has a weakened jawbone, despite the fact that the technology exists to help her.
At first, I was like "Sweet! I've always wanted a furry little animal with a long tail and monkey-like qualities!"
But then I realized I was thinking about a Lemur. When will someone release a Lemur machine?
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Now when you have a dog, don't dig up a corpse for that bone, just print one out!
503 Sig Unavailable
The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
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?
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.
Check :
Tissue engineers grow penis in the lab
Wonderful science.
It takes time to complete FDA studies, and even then it's often not enough. Side effects can take decades, or even generations to show up.
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?
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
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.
cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
The FDA does serve a purpose, Thalidomide is a great example. Ever see a person in their 20's or 30's with an underdevolped limb? Most likely they were born in another country where Thalidomide was allowed as a treatment for morning sickness. Why wasn't it allowed in the US, because no studies had been performed which measured its affect on the pregnancy. Thank you FDA!
Oh yeah and guess who isn't a big fan of FDA regulation? Orrin Hatch. Turns out Utah is home to many of the big health supplement companies. The FDA has no jurisdiction over them, so they are allowed to make all sorts of false promises about their products and then sell you whichever mix of ginsing and ephedrine they wish.
Thanks, Eric. I had to deal with someone close to me who was essentially addicted to ephedrine through daily use of "Mah Huang" aka ephedra sinica, a natural herbal supplement, the active ingredient of which is ephedrine -- which is no less harmful than crank. It can be just as deadly, too -- an overdose can be fatal. Way, Way bad!
pseudephedrine is the manufactured ingredient, the main ingredient in Sudafed, a leading decongestant. The same people that wouldn't take a handful of Sudafed will go ahead and take the equivalent dose of mah huang, because it's natural and organic. So is deadly nightshade. Not a great idea.
While it would be a shame if every herbal tea company were regulated into oblivion, its also clear that some "natural organics" can be quite dangerous (tobacco, psilocybin mushrooms, peyote buttons...)-- not to mention all kinds of unnatural inorganic treatments people try. Prior to the founding of the FDA there were some truly dangerous quack treatments -- electrical shocks to the nads for STD's for example. Unscientific, dangerous and quite scary stuff!
Uh, ephedrine is much weaker than methamphetamine. That's why people go through the trouble of making meth - often using ephedrine as a base. (Which is a large part of the reason the Drug Warriors get so bent out of shape about ephedrine.)
Exactly. Taking a little Mah Huang tea or a little Sudafed to clear your sinuses is generally safe. I prefer the tea, since you're also getting soothing warm liquids and herbs usually contain secondary substances that help balance out the action; I also find the use of herbs more aesthetically appealing. YYMV.
Taking large doses of either to get "high", or taking it constantly as a weight loss drug, is stupid. But it's your body and none of the government's business.
Psilocybin is quite safe, it's estimated that it would take several pounds of mushrooms to cause an overdose. Peyote is pretty safe, though I did read one account of a fatality from vomiting-related bleeding in an alcoholic man. (By "safety", I refer to the pharmacological actions of the drugs. Taking a psychdelic drug can result in a very intense experience, for which one should be psychologically prepared - treat all drugs, from chocolate to morphine, with respect. And don't do stupid things like drive while under the influence of any drug.)
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood