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BigBadMur t1_j52lwhk wrote

Sounds like a medical repair unit out of Star Trek. A decoder wasn't it?

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oForce21o t1_j5634hv wrote

youre thinking of subdermal or dermal regenerator, a tricorder only can scan things and send signals

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davidt0504 t1_j56sq9w wrote

Star Trek was the first thing I thought of too. The episodes where doctors recoiled in horror when remembering the days when we'd actually cut into people to heal them. Might as well bring out the leeches.

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BigBadMur t1_j577b79 wrote

I remember that episode. I always loved the humor on Star Trek.

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symmetry_seeking OP t1_j51vxfu wrote

Combining sonic printing with 3D scanning could create a tool to allow field medics to repair subdermal injuries on scene. How many lives would be saved from stopping internal bleeding?

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enemylemon t1_j54131t wrote

Save all the Loves, please! I won't onject!

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not_a_legit_source t1_j5i4u1w wrote

None. Because people don’t die from bleeding in the hypodermis. People die from vascular injury and solid organ injury

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ArcOfADream t1_j52l9ut wrote

I tried reading the source article but I'm still unclear on what the build material for an actual surgical procedure would be, or (since it's presumably not a cannibalistic function) how that material would get to where it needs to be. I'm sure that this is all very preliminary to actual practical use but curious nonetheless.

But still, is very, very cool notion.

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symmetry_seeking OP t1_j52x17w wrote

Resin printing is already a thing. The article mentions working withe a multitude of materials. I could see injecting a bio-safe substance into the wound area.

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ArcOfADream t1_j561qxh wrote

That would work for things like installing stents to clear blocked or damaged blood vessel perhaps, but repairing liver and other organ damage would probably require actual (for example) liver cells - you can just patch a but of the liver with plastic and say "job well done" because that just won't work and may cause more harm than good.

But once the materials science catches up, could be that they could just build you a whole new artificial organ, and that without carving a big hole in you to install it.

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mrdinosauruswrex t1_j54gks7 wrote

I just watched a video on magnetic slim that can be safely administered.

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Glittering_Cow945 t1_j542gdy wrote

we already remove kidney stones with sound waves. I dont see how you are going to get a material inside withhout breaking theskin.

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bottom t1_j55t5i8 wrote

Cool. Me neither. But I don’t really understand how car engines work either. Or planes. Or people.

Just cause you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.

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YawnTractor_1756 t1_j55q7bk wrote

They propose to inject polymer into your body... somewhere... apparently creating a polymer-filled 3D-printing chamber right inside your body cavity, and then 3d-print in it with sound waves.

What is the use of those 3d-printed solid polymer things for surgical purposes, how to get rid of those solid things afterwards and how to get out the rest of the unneeded polymer fluid seem to be unanswered questions at the moment.

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Rondaru t1_j54uyfp wrote

Either that ... or those sonic weapons from the first Dune movie.

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Mcflymarty447 t1_j52msl2 wrote

Im still waiting for a ”minimally invasive” surgery that would apply to bone

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