These things use a lattice of thin steel laces that can be tightened with one hand and loosened using a clicky dial knob. You can set it once and leave it be, or you can continually adjust it for the best fit. The best part? You don’t need a damned saw to get the thing off. [Exos Medical via Fast Company]

You’re looking at “teeth”, a visual work by Hong Kong-based radiologist, Kai-hung Fung. He runs 3D computed tomography (CT) scans of his patient’s hearts, teeth and other body parts, and generates images directly from his medical workstation; no Photoshop-like are involved. According to the Telegraph, his mix of science and art has been shown in galleries around the world.

The imagery is packed with information. Each line or point represents specific anatomical structures in the body in normal or diseased state. It creates an unusual perspective.

[Telegraph]

Stacked with the same bone conduction technology we’ve been seeing in Bluetooth headsets for some time now, along with wired and wireless device connectivity, a new class of hearing aids is making its way into patients’ ears—or more accurately, their skulls. Bone conduction makes a big difference to hearing aids’ core functionality, eliminating all manner of noise issues, but the heart of these new plugs is a powerful processing platform, with a gadgety twist:

[T]he newer processors, costing about $6000 (AUD) each, shut out background noise, giving users up to 25 per cent better hearing, and can be attached directly to MP3 music players or wireless headsets for talking on the phone

This makes a lot of sense—wearing earbuds or a Bluetooth headset on top of hearing aids would feel a little redundant, no? Anyway, as they are, the systems, made by Australian company Cochlear, aren’t as cyborgian as you might imagine. The processor, with its headphone jack and wireless radio, isn’t actually drilled into your head—that’s just the cochlear implant—but instead worn around your ear, headset-style. The company’s even got a range of “Freedom Accessories” which, let’s be clear here, are consumer tech accessories meant to indirectly plug into your bone. It’s a great time to be an old. [Sydney Morning Herald via Neatorama via BoingBoing]

Italian scientists have developed a new “wood-derived bone substitute” that promises to be better than ceramic or metal implants. They start with a block of wood like red oak, burn it until the block is essentially charcoal and then coat the substance with calcium.

The “bone” takes about a week to grow at a cost of around $US850. And while it’s not quite as cool as titanium, the spongier structure handles natural impact better, and other bones prefer the calcium carbon mix to space shuttle alloys.

So much for my awesome robot legs. [Discovery]

All three patients were blind in one eye. The researchers extracted stem cells from their working eyes, cultured them in contact lenses for 10 days, and gave them to the patients. Within 10 to 14 days of use, the stem cells began recolonising and repairing the cornea.

Of the three patients, two were legally blind but can now read the big letters on an eye chart, while the third, who could previously read the top few rows of the chart, is now able to pass the vision test for a driver’s licence. The research team isn’t getting over excited, still remaining unsure as to whether the correction will remain stable, but the fact that the three test patients have been enjoying restored sight for the last 18 months is definitely encouraging. The simplicity and low cost of the technique also means that it could be carried out in poorer countries.

This is incredible and potentially game changing. It’s stuff like this that makes you realise that we live in the future, and it’s awesome. [UNSW via The Australian via GizMag]

See, while the Swine Flu may have not been as bad as originally thought, the fact is that it’s better to be overly protective than sorry. Or at least, that’s what governments think.

It’s just like anti-terrorist airport controls. These were increased to stupid levels after September 11 with measures like arbitrary limits on liquids, “Please Remove Laptop From Bag” rules, and the now-classic “Please Remove Your Shoes and Coat”—measures that only add hassle without actually increasing security. Not only they have been bypassed and rendered useless in countless occasions, but there are dozens of security breakpoints around airports everywhere that can be used by the bad guys to do bad things, even now.

We got those measures and everyone gladly accepted them, getting back to sleep into this false dream of total safety, all thanks to this daily airport security show and tell.

The same will happen with medical controls. Thermal scanners and cybersniffers capable of detecting viruses and germs designed to do the same thing: Give everyone a false sense of health safety.

It will be false because, until the technology is truly omniscient and really can detect the tiniest amount of any virus in any stage of development, the barrier will never be real. And even then, there will be other entry points for the virus. You just can’t put barriers in the air. You can try to contain, but at the end is a battle we are going to lose. At least for the time being.

Right now the fact is that, no matter how many controls we put in airports, if there’s a real outbreak of something really really nasty, with no cure whatsoever, we are fucked. Big time.

In the meantime, we will all get to re-enact that airport checkpoint scene from Total Recall every time we go on a trip. I can’t wait. [Boston.com]

It’s the ultimate home theatre system that you’ll (hopefully) never be conscious to see.

The old da Vinci was alright, but the new da Vinci Si surgical system displays your intestines in 3D HD (a perspective created through a double-camera, double-display stereoscopic system) so that a surgeon can marvel at the efficiency of your GI tract and feel like those vital organs are right there.

So would you prefer a surgeon to perform your next operation, or a surgeon behind the da Vinci? We’d prefer a normal surgeon donning old school blue and red 3D glasses. [da Vinci via medgadget]

When all that bacon and candy finally catches up to you, you will definitely want your paramedic shocking you back to life with the Lifepack 15 defibrillator. I mean, just look at it.

And yes, it does have some great high-tech features:

•Noninvasive and continuous detection of carbon monoxide (SpCO), oxygen saturation (SpO2), and methemoglobin (SpMET) through integrated Masimo Rainbow technology.
•The CPR Metronome with audible prompts has been proven to aid users in performing compressions and ventilations within the recommended range of AHA Guidelines.
•Energy dosing to 360J for difficult-to-defibrillate patients.
•Easy to acquire pre-medication 12-lead ECG and reliable, continuous monitoring of all 12 leads in the background to alert you to changes via our ST Trending feature.
•Large, high quality dual-mode colour LCD screen with one touch switching to high-contrast SunVue™ mode for use in bright sunlight
•Advanced Lithium-ion battery technology to give you up to six hours of operating time-enough juice to run a shift
•A platform with a new state-of-the-art processor and more memory so the 15 can grow and adapt as your needs change

The Medtronic Lifepack 15 has just been given the go-ahead by the FDA—so treat yourself to another donut. Your gonna be just fine fatty. [Checkoutthefuture via Medgadget]

The photo above depicts a portable x-ray machine at Walter Reed hospital during World War I. Some of the crude, early prosthetic limbs (WARNING some photos are highly disturbing), combined with the photos’ sepia tone, make these very real people remind you of those mangled toys in the original Toy Story. Just compare them to the i-Limb bionic arm.

They’ve got over 500,000 scans and are working to digitise another 225,000 this year. So this curated set of 800 is just the beginning, but I don’t know if I can bring myself to look through any more. [Flickr via Wired via BoingBoing]