O.K. I read a document today that reminded me of how life used to be. But, it’s not going to be quite the way you think or the way our government thinks. Today’s publication in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report can be considered to be a very good thing- or not. (Note: My queue ranges from 12 to 40 posts; this was written on 17 August)
Continue reading Attention all Baby Boomers (Everyone else, too.)
I’ve written about 3D printing for medical applications. And, we are making progress. But, the biggest issue precluding their become a reality to produce viable organs is the need to provide blood and nutrients- i.e., perfusion. That’s why folks have developed scaffolding systems (for information on scaffolding, click here) to develop the network of blood vessels necessary. Once that threshold is crossed, organs like the bioartificial kidney would be possible (as described here). The issue is generally that constructing these hollow channels into blood vessels tend to leak or rupture at the structural seams.
Continue reading One small step. One critical step.
Continue reading Stick with Milk
Continue reading So now, what?
Seconds count when you are in medical trouble. And, now, a new company, EmergencyLink, may be able to help medical health personnel respond more completely to the situation. But, it requires us to do something now to make that possible. And, they (EmergencyLink) need to figure out how to respond more quickly, too!
Continue reading Who are you going to call?
You know that I’m old. I’ve been around a while. And, I recall when the FDA was going to remove saccharin from the marketplace.
Continue reading Sweet, sweet, sweet
It’s summer time here. Where we drive more, go to the beach, vacation, and do things we don’t normally do. Which means we put ourselves at risk. And, I’ve asked you to prepare a living will. These documents were first created in the 60’s, but the Quinlan case (the one where the woman lasted in a vegetative state [almost] forever) drove the case home for a lot of folks.
Continue reading It’s not “until death do us part…”
The US constitution sets up a system of checks and balances for the three branches of government, the Executive (White House and Cabinet), the Legislative (the “Congress- House and Senate) and the Judicial (Supreme Court). The ability of the Legislative Branch to regulate our lives- economically and socially- involve four enunciated powers within that document.
Continue reading PPACA, SCOTUS, and Reality…
So, here’s a big secret. An artificial jaw was implanted in an 83 year old patient. Not only did this operation occur a year ago in the Netherlands (June 2011), but the jaw was produced by a 3D printer. [If you want even more information about 3D printers, search for 3D in the index to the right.] The first jaw transplant in North America was performed in 2006- and in that case the patient had the donated jaw reside in his back muscles for 8 months to insure biocompatibility.
Continue reading From dental implants to jaws…
I had the honor of knowing Bill Dobelle for more than 25 years. With his ever-present bowtie, he was enamored with bringing sight to the blind (which number about 15 million people around the world). I am sure if he hadn’t died prematurely at 64, he would have succeeded completely. As it was, he managed to enable those who had lost their sight to recognize shapes, patterns, and colors, using a series of implanted electrodes.
Continue reading Letting the blind see