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Cancer Patient Receives 3D-Printed Titanium Sternum and Ribs

Posted by samzenpus on from the we-can-rebuild-him dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A Spanish cancer patient diagnosed with chest wall sarcoma has received the world's first 3D printed titanium sternum and rib cage. Anatomics, an Australian medical device company, designed and manufactured the metal rib cage. Cnet reports: "Once printed, finished and polished, the implant was couriered to the Salamanca University Hospital, where it was implanted into the patient's chest. It has now been two weeks since the surgery, and the patient has been discharged is recovering well."

38 comments

  1. XMen by brunes69 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sounds like this guy is 20% on the way to becoming wolverine. Just needs to replicate this procedure with his arms, spine, and skull...!

    1. Re:XMen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds more like Adam Jensen.

      "I never asked for this"

    2. Re:XMen by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      Wolverine? Titanium's good, but adamantium's better.

    3. Re:XMen by fourthrail16309 · · Score: 1

      Tony Stark's got nothing on this guy. Awesome tech.

  2. Adamantium next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When will be able to replace everything with Adamantium?

    1. Re:Adamantium next? by peragrin · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not for a while yet. Adamantium has to be processed and kept hot until forming. If you think ink jets get clogged easily you haven't seen adamantium yet.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re: Adamantium next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well that, and if you get too greedy you unleash hell -- though some think that is a lot of FUN!

    3. Re: Adamantium next? by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Well, dwarves do enjoy their trap designs. Testing them on hell spawn would be rather entertaining.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  3. How are they handling the essence loss? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Titanium bone lacing for the win!

    Call me when the headware decks hit the street.

    The Smiling Bandit [Strikes again!/Ha-Ha-Ha]

    1. Re:How are they handling the essence loss? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      He has a new lease on life, but he'll never fly again.

  4. Not impressed by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Titanium sternum? That's nothing. I had an aunt with a cedar chest.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Not impressed by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      Also, I remember overhearing my dad talking about a guy with brass balls.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Not impressed by plover · · Score: 1

      I know a guy with nerves of steel. I always wondered why they weren't copper, it's a much better conductor.

      --
      John
    3. Re:Not impressed by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Also, I remember overhearing my dad talking about a guy with brass balls.

      You joke, but the personal trainer I used to go to was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to have one removed. When the doctor presented him with options for prosthetic, while they did not have brass as an option, they did have different sizes. So it is now quite possible to literally have a big pair of balls.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    4. Re:Not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to be brave to have nerves of steel if you also have a heart of gold, because if you ever get cold feet you might act as a thermocouple and electrocute yourself to death.

    5. Re:Not impressed by DougOtto · · Score: 1

      So it is now quite possible to literally have a big pair of balls.

      Oh, it's always been possible.

      --
      Solving Unix problems since 1989...
    6. Re:Not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have to ask, because I can't help myself: how did this come up in conversation anyway?

      -LaurenC

    7. Re:Not impressed by roman_mir · · Score: 0

      The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club!

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
    8. Re:Not impressed by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I have to ask, because I can't help myself: how did this come up in conversation anyway?

      Guys in the gym talk about everything, but eventually, the conversation always turns to our genitalia. We can't help ourselves. It's the greatest benefit of having external genitals. It's like a plaything that's always with you and you never get tired of.

      A female I know once poetically described her exclusion from the external genital club as being like a Jew at Christmas, upset because you don't have a tree with a shiny star on top. On the downside, those same external genitalia are known to leach the intelligence from men, leaving them vulnerable to April Fools jokes and the wily ways of evil feminists.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    9. Re:Not impressed by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      They're also available for your pet in case they are feeling depressed and self conscious after being neutered.

    10. Re:Not impressed by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  5. Finally something useful for 3D printing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Usually I would wonder whether samzenpus gets free custom printed dildos for personal use as reward for posting 3D printing stories, but this time I have to admit that this use case is actually beneficial.

  6. Great tech, but awful picture by rmdingler · · Score: 2
    Imagine having to replace your entire rib cage because it is cancer-ridden. =Gee-zus!

    My Monday is looking up.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Great tech, but awful picture by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      Imagine having to replace your entire rib cage because it is cancer-ridden. =Gee-zus!

      On the bright side, think of the bar bets he can win now. "Bet you $100 you can stab me in the chest and it won't even hurt me."

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Great tech, but awful picture by bev_tech_rob · · Score: 1

      Imagine having to replace your entire rib cage because it is cancer-ridden. =Gee-zus!

      On the bright side, think of the bar bets he can win now. "Bet you $100 you can stab me in the chest and it won't even hurt me."

      Gonna suck if he ever tries to fly anywhere. Will have to carry a ream of documentation showing what he has...

      --
      You're messin' with my Zen Thing, man.....
    3. Re:Great tech, but awful picture by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  7. Finally can sing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I am titaniummm!

  8. Thanks socialized medicine. by tekrat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And this person paid probably less than $10,000 for this operation, whereas, in the United States, with the greatest healthcare system in the world, the person would have simply died because he couldn't afford the $2 million pricetag.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Da, komrade!

    2. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know what Spain's healthcare system is like, but in Canuckistan he wouldn't have had to pay anything except for the post-surgery prescription drugs

    3. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would cost the same in Australia as it does America, the difference is only whether the persons Insurance program pays for it or your neighbors do through taxes.

      And don't forget, insurance is now required by law in the U.S. We just choose to pay into a medical expenses only insurance pool, rather than trust politicians not to misspend the higher taxes and dole out substandard healthcare in exchange.

      On $180k income, Australian's pay 50% taxes whereas American's only pay 28%.

    4. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by kasparov · · Score: 4, Informative

      > On $180k income, Australian's pay 50% taxes whereas American's only pay 28%. No, they don't. This grossly overstates how much is paid. They pay almost 45% on every dollar *over* $180k + the tax from the various income brackets below. At $180k, they would have an effective overall tax rate of 30.3%. The amount of tax paid asymptotically approaches 45% as their income approaches infinity.

      --
      There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity.
    5. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      "It would cost the same in Australia as it does America, the difference is only whether the persons Insurance program pays for it or your neighbors do through taxes."

      Not quite. In the US we pay a lot more because of the monopoly nature of medicine.

      Furthermore, the Australian and Canadian government medical systems save a lot by operating as one big buyer, negotiating for the best price. It is illegal for American governmental health programs, such as Medicare or Obamacare, to negotiate on price. Medicare can 'negotiate' only by refusing to cover high-priced medication and procedures, while Obamacare is required to pay retail for everything. This was the price of getting it passed.

    6. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by phaggood · · Score: 1

      > difference is only whether the persons Insurance program pays for it by raising rates on everyone else or your neighbors do through increased borrowing and tax cuts for the wealthy.

      FTFY

    7. Re:Thanks socialized medicine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...assuming you would have gotten a doctor in time behind the waiting list (which can be year(s), plural).

  9. I'd like mine ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... with the arc reactor option installed.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:I'd like mine ... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      that's been put on hold by the FDA until suitable non-toxic alternative to palladium is demonstrated, and in unrelated news many fried corpses of "makers" attempting to tap into 345KV feeder lines have been reported in several states

  10. I wonder how long by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 1

    Until society falls and the people who form the next society think we used to drill out people's chests by hand and hack at them with chisels to install crudely crafted titanium plates.