New implant imitates bone structure

[Lestat]

-"The imitation of the human bone is not the only advantage of the implant: moreover, the porous part will allow the bone to "penetrate" the implant. This means that over time, the fixing plates can be removed, and the implant will already behave as a bone."

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-02-polymer-twin-implant-imitates-bone.html

Seems very interesting!
What do you guys think about it?

[Post bimax]

Seems interesting, but I'm wondering if it suffers from increased infection rates like other porous materials like Medpor.

[ben from UK]

There is definately need for better implant material than silicone, and that's why they are experimenting with new material right now. Medpor is also outdated cause you can't change it easily. Ideally an implant needs to have low infection rate, needs to be able to replicate bone, needs to look natural, needs to age well, not move, and needs to be changed easily when the client isn't satisfied. Silicone only offers the latter. More studies need to be made about PEEK, Titanium and new other implant material.

[tim06]

Will take an easy 5-10 years for FDA approval and actual commercial use in patients..

[ben from UK]

Silicone ages bad. Look at Michael Jackson's implant for example. You can see the typical silicone look. We're at the beginning of plastic surgery area. In 50 years things will probably be much better, but we won't have that luck. Demand from society to look good will increase and scientists and surgeons need to come with better plans, designs, materials, skills and procedures. I also hope that PS becomes less of a scam business. The amount of people who get scammed is huge. They need to be protected.

[PloskoPlus]

Silicone ages bad. Look at Michael Jackson's implant for example. You can see the typical silicone look. We're at the beginning of plastic surgery area. In 50 years things will probably be much better, but we won't have that luck. Demand from society to look good will increase and scientists and surgeons need to come with better plans, designs, materials, skills and procedures. I also hope that PS becomes less of a scam business. The amount of people who get scammed is huge. They need to be protected.

Genetic engineering will happen first.

[jusken]

Genetic engineering will happen first.

Yep.  If we're going to get ahead of this beauty thing, we're going to have to move way beyond implants and fillers.  The whole medical industry is going to have to be totally disrupted.  We're certainly on that path now, it's only a matter of time.  Until then, tons of people are going to get repeatedly burned by the current options.

[PloskoPlus]

Yep.  If we're going to get ahead of this beauty thing, we're going to have to move way beyond implants and fillers.  The whole medical industry is going to have to be totally disrupted.  We're certainly on that path now, it's only a matter of time.  Until then, tons of people are going to get repeatedly burned by the current options.

Without a huge number of men who need to be put back in action ASAP (WW2 scale), I'm afraid we won't see any medical breakthroughs for a while.  I'm in the biomed industry (not a researcher).  It's a big slow, inefficient grind with the vast majority of startups flopping.  The founders then move on, raise money again, start another one.  Rinse and repeat.

[Post bimax]

Honestly just need the Pentagon to get in on this since that’s where the majority of tech actually comes from (in conjunction with schools like MIT). Maybe convince them that good looking and durable implants will improve soldiers’ self confidence on the battlefield.

[jusken]

Without a huge number of men who need to be put back in action ASAP (WW2 scale), I'm afraid we won't see any medical breakthroughs for a while.  I'm in the biomed industry (not a researcher).  It's a big slow, inefficient grind with the vast majority of startups flopping.  The founders then move on, raise money again, start another one.  Rinse and repeat.

At this point, it's obvious to me that the necessary disruption will come from AI (or some kind of hivemind system, but I digress).  There are far too many variables to consider for an unassisted doctor/researcher when looking at almost anything related to the human body.  This is why diagnosing/researching hasn't evolved much and why it's still mostly just throwing darts.  It's very possible this stage will not require nearly as many people involved. 

That's cool that you're close to it though.

[ben from UK]

the most important question is still: what makes someone better looking and what should be done to make that person better looking? A surgeon should be able to make a face better looking based on a good morph, but these cases are rare. I think the next step will be designing computer programs that are able to predict the changes in all directions with soft tissue attached to the face, instead of based on a skull. The latter gives too unpredictable results, you need to see the changes with soft tissue on face.

[jusken]

the most important question is still: what makes someone better looking and what should be done to make that person better looking? A surgeon should be able to make a face better looking based on a good morph, but these cases are rare. I think the next step will be designing computer programs that are able to predict the changes in all directions with soft tissue attached to the face, instead of based on a skull. The latter gives too unpredictable results, you need to see the changes with soft tissue on face.

There is such a convergence of technology happening, trying to predict what we'll end up with is impossible.

If we just looked at the potential of regenerative technology alone for instance, we could end up a total solution.  A body already knows (hypothetically) how to build 'perfectly' formed pieces of itself.  Salamanders (and I think most/many amphibians - especially the axolotl) can have its tail cut off and attached to an amputated arm and this tail section will grow into a perfect arm (The axolotl can regenerate almost all parts of its body from scratch). It's not clear how this would or if it could work in an adult human, but it's possible we have genes that are just 'disabled' (regeneration would be incredibly resource intensive for a large animal like a human in nature).  With this approach, you're just harnessing the already incredible built-in regenerative process in organisms.

Why does someone look good?  It's just a combination of health (lack of genetic disease) and the right chemical balance (which the 'ideal' is probably just a moving target based on all kinds of cultural values). I'm heavily simplifying it here as it all has a genetic basis and a tangled web, as well as individual and more superficial traits for hair color, etc, etc.

If that doesn't work, we always have nanobots and ai assisted surgery, consciousness uploading (transhumanism), minds controlling surrogate bodies, etc.  Yep, I think I'm finally losing it...

[kavan]

Honestly just need the Pentagon to get in on this since that’s where the majority of tech actually comes from (in conjunction with schools like MIT). Maybe convince them that good looking and durable implants will improve soldiers’ self confidence on the battlefield.

Actually interest in appearance changes for better (or different) looks would be more in the venue of espionage than battlefield and would resolve to CIA funding. They have entire departments (Camouflage OPs) devoted to forensic facial analysis, reconstruction, disguises etc. They have a cadre of medical specialist devoted to surgical alterations and the latest technology to avoid bio-metric identification when they need to change identities.

[Lazlo]

Actually interest in appearance changes for better (or different) looks would be more in the venue of espionage than battlefield and would resolve to CIA funding. They have entire departments (Camouflage OPs) devoted to forensic facial analysis, reconstruction, disguises etc. They have a cadre of medical specialist devoted to surgical alterations and the latest technology to avoid bio-metric identification when they need to change identities.

I heard the CIA had come close to (or have come close to, or already developed) some kind of technology that morphs a person's facial features, like does something that makes your facial features malleable and changeable into a completely different face.  I have no idea what that technology is or how it works but I remember reading about this.

[Lazlo]

Genetic engineering will happen first.

when do you think genetic engineering will be able to help us plosko?