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3-D Printed Skull Successfully Implanted In Woman

Posted by samzenpus on from the new-head dept.

First time accepted submitter djhaskin987 (2147470) writes "The first successful implantation of a 3-D printed skull has taken place in the Netherlands, according to NBC news: 'Doctors in the Netherlands report that they have for the first time successfully replaced most of a human's skull with a 3-D printed plastic one — and likely saved a woman's life in the process. The 23-hour surgery took place three months ago at University Medical Center Utrecht. The hospital announced details of the groundbreaking operation this week and said the patient, a 22-year-old woman, is doing just fine."

15 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. Sweet by Max+Threshold · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can I get a bulletproof one?

    1. Re:Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It wouldn't help you much, the impact would still damage your brain even if the bullet did not penetrate.

    2. Re:Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So penetrating brain injury is only slightly less severe than non penetrating. Do you have data for this?

    3. Re:Sweet by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Funny

      It wouldn't help you much, the impact would still damage your brain even if the bullet did not penetrate.

      True, but he could still get a job as a PHP developer.

  2. Can I get one by vikingpower · · Score: 3, Funny

    with eSATA, USB 3.0, FireWire 800, HDMI, DVI, RJ45, RJ11 and Thunderbolt ports ? With a 40-year upgrade plan for future interface types ?

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    1. Re:Can I get one by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      with eSATA, USB 3.0, FireWire 800, HDMI, DVI, RJ45, RJ11 and Thunderbolt ports ? With a 40-year upgrade plan for future interface types ?

      Terrible choice of ports.

      eSATA is useless when we have USB 3.0. Even if you wanted eSata for some reason, you should have gotten eSATAp
      USB 3.0 is a good choice, but you may as well have listed USB 3.1.
      FireWire? Is this 1996?
      HDMI? Displayport, please.
      DVI? HDMI carries DVI. Again, Displayport, please.
      RJ45 is a jack, not an interface or standard. 10 Gbps or 40 Gbps Ethernet would be a good choice.
      RJ11 is a jack, not an interface or standard. Your Ethernet cable can carry PoTS or VoIP for you.
      Thunderbolt (AKA External PCIe + marketing) is a terrible choice because anyone can just jack in and DMA attack your brain.

    2. Re:Can I get one by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Now what makes Jobs the authority on death?

      Oh... right... never mind.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Its transparent.... by tonywestonuk · · Score: 4, Funny

    How cool is that!!! If that was me, I would make sure they didn't put the skin back on, and added a few blue flashing LED's for additional affect.

    1. Re:Its transparent.... by Max+Threshold · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That would be awesome until the first time your brain got sunburned.

    2. Re:Its transparent.... by Lairdykinsmcgee · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sunburnt brain... Now that's a super villain origin story if I ever heard one.

  4. Adamantium by Jesrad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do they make them in adamantium yet ?

    --
    Maybe we deserve this world ?
  5. Re:Fantastic. by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not as amazing as it sounds at first. As far as I can tell they didn't try to replace any of the facial skull area. Now THAT would be a feat and a half, considering just how many muscles and nerves are dependent on being on the "right" spot on the skull and being correctly attached, let alone all of our senses. This implant was only for the "brain" part of the skull, i.e. the upper/back half of it. Very important, after all that's what protects our brain, but far less complicated to handle from a medical point of view.

    It's actually less stunning from a medical point of view than from a purely technological one. Operations where the skull cover is removed to ease the pressure on the brain are not so uncommon. What's new now is "merely" that the replacement implant fits far better to the patient, instead of a "one size fits all" that gets shaped and fitted on the OP table, with varying and often limited success, the patient now gets a 100% fitting part.

    That IS a big advancement in medicine. But more for the technical side of medicine, less so for the actual surgical point of view.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Shock waves by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's why helmets for cyclists and motorbike riders are not just made of a hard steel shell. Shock waves from fast impacts can pass through a hard material and transmit through something softer, and if they are carrying a lot of energy they can really mess up the softer material.

    1. Re:Shock waves by Wootery · · Score: 4, Informative

      Wrong. In discharging a gun, the bullet is given much more kinetic energy than the gun, due to the disparity in masses. This follows from conservation of momentum, and the definition of kinetic energy.

      This is why an armoured soldier can still be injured through his body armour, despite the armour stopping the bullet, whereas the shooter's shoulder is just fine.

  7. Re:Fantastic. by narcc · · Score: 4, Funny

    And what can be less complicated than a bowl??????

    A plate.

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    Required reading for internet skeptics