Roll-your-own new bones
Man, modern medicine is getting more Frankensteinian by the day -- and I mean that in the good sense. Doctors in German have invented a technique that lets you grow new bone parts to be implanted in different parts of your body. Recently, they studied a man who needed a new jawbone part. They made a 3D model of the bone part, crafted it in titanium, and implanted it in his right shoulder blade.
The result? The shoulder blade interprets the titanium as part of itself and grows new bone around it. Presto: One new bone, grown by your own body. And the best part, as the doctor told the BBC:
He said implanting the cage into the patient's muscle meant his own tissue developed around it.
"Because it was his own tissue, we don't expect any problems of rejection."
(Thanks to Jonathan Korman for this one!)
Posted by Clive Thompson at August 31, 2004 10:44 PM
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There are two uses of Bone Manipulation technology that I intend to take advantage of in the near future:
I will use the process by which small people can be made taller: bones are strategically broken and separated slightly (using metal alloy braces and screws). These separated bones will fill the gap between themselves. Over time and many "applications" of this procedure, significant height and proportion is achieved. I will use this process to gain several inches in stature.
I will then use the titanium bone formation technique you posted here to grow splines from my vertebrae, spikes from my elbows and knees, and a stylish and horrifying set of proto-Darth Maul horns from my head.
After that and other mods (tongue bifurcation, extended canines, calf and pectoral implants) I will finally feel actualized. My imago and me will dance in the rain...
Posted by: Alfred O. Cloutier at September 1, 2004 1:56 PM
I guess I can't steal Clive's "Ahahahaha", so I'll have to settle for a "ROTFL" instead!
Alfred, don't forget the cloven hooves and barbed tail!
Posted by: marc at September 1, 2004 4:14 PM
Heh. Actually, Alfred, that bone-extension technique is already in practice, though you probably already knew that: Some European doctor in a small town invented the technique of systematically breaking a person's leg and letting it heal several times over a few years, to produce enough new bone to extend a limb. He was using it to help out people born with mismatched leg lengths, and apparently the technique is now used globally.
Posted by: Clive at September 2, 2004 12:12 AM
Oh, yeah. Like I said, the application I saw the bone extension technique used for is to make small people taller. I saw a man who was fairly diminutive turn out much taller. It was pretty cool actually, he looked happier.
Posted by: Alfred O. Cloutier at September 2, 2004 9:45 AM
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There are two uses of Bone Manipulation technology that I intend to take advantage of in the near future:
I will use the process by which small people can be made taller: bones are strategically broken and separated slightly (using metal alloy braces and screws). These separated bones will fill the gap between themselves. Over time and many "applications" of this procedure, significant height and proportion is achieved. I will use this process to gain several inches in stature.
I will then use the titanium bone formation technique you posted here to grow splines from my vertebrae, spikes from my elbows and knees, and a stylish and horrifying set of proto-Darth Maul horns from my head.
After that and other mods (tongue bifurcation, extended canines, calf and pectoral implants) I will finally feel actualized. My imago and me will dance in the rain...
Posted by: Alfred O. Cloutier at September 1, 2004 1:56 PM
I guess I can't steal Clive's "Ahahahaha", so I'll have to settle for a "ROTFL" instead!
Alfred, don't forget the cloven hooves and barbed tail!
Posted by: marc at September 1, 2004 4:14 PM
Heh. Actually, Alfred, that bone-extension technique is already in practice, though you probably already knew that: Some European doctor in a small town invented the technique of systematically breaking a person's leg and letting it heal several times over a few years, to produce enough new bone to extend a limb. He was using it to help out people born with mismatched leg lengths, and apparently the technique is now used globally.
Posted by: Clive at September 2, 2004 12:12 AM
Oh, yeah. Like I said, the application I saw the bone extension technique used for is to make small people taller. I saw a man who was fairly diminutive turn out much taller. It was pretty cool actually, he looked happier.
Posted by: Alfred O. Cloutier at September 2, 2004 9:45 AM
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Posted by: online poker at January 26, 2005 10:01 PM