3-D Printed Skull Replacement

I know, I know, everyone in the world has probably already seen this. Even people who aren't interested in skulls. But I'm trying to update this blog more regularly, and I'm starting by going through some links I emailed myself.

So. An unnamed patient in the US had 75 percent of his skull replaced by a 3-D printed prosthetic, according to news.com.au (via Engadget, via Gizmodo).

In case you're confused -- as I was on first glance -- the prosthetic is the darker part. The rest of the plastic skull just shows how it fits. Which makes the whole thing slightly less exciting that if everything you see in the image is what was surgically inserted into the guy's head. Essentially, it's like a metal plate, except, well, plastic.

The article doesn't mention why the man needed so much of his skull replaced, only that the technology  allows Connecticut-based Oxford Performance Materials to produce custom prostheses "to replace bone damaged by disease or trauma." To get a custom piece, the patient's skull is first scanned by "a 3D scanner" (MRI, maybe?).

I vaguely remember reading another story some time ago about someone who had had his skull scanned and a 3-D printed version made. He didn't need it for a prosthesis, he just wanted something cool to have on his desk. I would love to have a plastic model of my own skull on my desk.

Image © Oxford Performance Materials.

Skulls Unlimited on National Geographic

The National Geographic Channel Website has a short video (apparently an excerpt from a series called Taboo) featuring the folks at Skulls Unlimited (I'd almost consider moving to the US of I could get a job there). This is not for the squeamish, so if you're bothered by decomposition, severed human heads, or dead things, don't watch.



I've never tried to embed a video before, so if this doesn't work, you can pop over to Nat Geog and watch it there.

Convergent Skulls: Walrus and Elephant

I was watching on episode of Oddities a while ago (a great tv series for skelephiles and other fans of odd stuff), and someone brought in a walrus mandible (actually both mandibles fused). The expert they had look at the bone commented on how similar it was to an elephant mandible, despite the very different diets of the two animals.

That got me thinking about walrus and elephant skulls and the similarities they have evolved, largely due to the fact that both animals need skulls that can support a massive pair of tusks. Of course, there are also a lot of differences, but have a look at these simplified illustrations.

Obviously, these are not to scale. I don't have anything profound to say here, just that it's cool to think about how the bones of animals can be so similar or so different, depending on how they developed.