Slashdot Mirror
3-D Printed Skull Successfully Implanted In Woman
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."
It wouldn't help you much, the impact would still damage your brain even if the bullet did not penetrate.
Sunburnt brain... Now that's a super villain origin story if I ever heard one.
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.