The stethoscope was invented only 200 years ago in 1816. Imagine if you were the person who first heard a heartbeat or an intake of breath. A stethoscope is now a signature part of any medical professional’s kit. Medicine has made leaps and bounds since then. I want to take a moment and look back on some of the top medical advances that were made in 2015.
1. 3D Printing
3D printing is a new practice and it seems like if you can imagine it they can make it. Well, doctors took it to the next level: we are now able to print working copies of human body parts. Doctors created a working larynx (aka the voice box) before transplanting the duplicate larynx to the patient. They did multiple tests to prove that the copy was capable of doing the same job as an organic larynx. One test measured the vibrations across the surface of the larynx as air flowed passed. This simulated a person speaking. The copy was able to match the frequency of vibrations of the organic larynx.
Doctors were also able to make a copy of a human nose in just under 15 minutes. They took this copy and gave it to a boy named Dallen Jennet who fell on a power line and severely damaged his face. After several other surgeries to help reconstruct the smell receptors in his face doctors proceeded with surgery. The surgery was successful and doctors even say that the nose will grow with him so there is no need for additional surgery.
This is an amazing breakthrough for individuals who need to have facial reconstructive surgery.
2. Spinal Reattachment
One day in Australia, a 16-month-old baby by the name of Jaxon Taylor was in his mother’s car when a separate, speeding car crashed into them. His mother knew the moment she pulled him out of the car that his neck was broken. When emergency officials were able to get x-rays, he was diagnosed with internal decapitation. The baby’s skull was detached from the vertebral column within his neck.
To fix his spine Jaxon’s doctor reconnected Jaxon’s skull to his vertebra with a metal wire. After the skull began to reconnect, a piece of the baby’s ribs finished the connection. To keep Jaxon's neck still while he healed his doctor gave him a metal halo collar.
This procedure would not work on most people let alone a baby. That’s what I call a miracle baby.
3. Bi-Lateral Hand Transplant on a Child
I remember as a child watching “The Power Puff Girls” and wondering how they did anything? They didn’t have functional hands just rounded arms. I always thought it was odd that the creators of the TV show never gave them real hands.
It never crossed my mind that someone could actually live like that but Zion Harvey lived without hands or feet for six years of his life. When Zion was 2 years old his hands and feet had to be amputated because of a life-threatening spread of the infection Gangrene. At the age of 8, he decided that he wanted to take the risk and be the first ever recipient of bi-lateral hand surgery.
A team of 12 surgeons, 8 nurses, as well as several anesthesiologists worked on Zion’s almost 12-hour long surgery. They split the team into 4 groups, they had a team on each of Zion’s arms as well as the two donor hands. Surgeons labeled each of the different veins, capillaries, nerves and muscles to prepare to make the connections between Zion and the donor's hands.
Zion is looking at almost two years of recovery, but hopefully he can finally swing on the monkey bars.
4. Needle-less Blood Draws
Some people don’t care about blood, others pass out the moment they see blood or a needle. This can make doing routine blood tests difficult. A new device reportedly the size of a ping pong ball does not pierce the skin. Instead using a gentle vacuum it sucks a small drop of blood (about .15 cubic centimeters of blood) from the capillaries of the patient's skin.
I am sure this will make blood draws more pleasant for friends who don’t like needles!
5. The Bullet Tampon
When a soldier is shot in the battlefield it used to be that the medic had to pack gauze into the wound and hope they could put enough pressure on it to stop the bleeding. They would also create a tourniquet which is a technique that cuts off all blood flow to that limb. While it can help a soldier survive to get help in a lot of cases they would be close to losing that limb because of the lack of blood flow to said limb. Now a new technology will put that pressure on the wound from the inside. A syringe called the Xstat deposits gauze pellets the size of a standard pill into the wound. These pellets absorb blood and as they do they expand and put pressure on the wound. This device has the applications to save a lot of lives, and soon it will be available to the public for victims of shootings.
7. What can we expect in the future: Sci-fi or Real Life?
An Italian doctor is convinced he knows how to do a successful head transplant. While this sounds like stuff taken out of a movie, this one is real life. Italian surgeon Canavero has planned this for years and now has a date (December of 2017) and place set in China’s Harbin Medical University. He estimates that the procedure will take roughly 36 hours to complete and cost 11 million dollars.
What is at risk for such a procedure? Well, obviously death is a major issue. But if he does manage to keep the brain alive the patient will have years of rehabilitation and will have to hope that his donor body is compatible with his. People reject organs, imagine rejecting everything from the neck down.
This experiment is being faced with many disapproving eyes and Canavero says he is prepared to go to jail if that’s what it comes to.
I am sure we will hear more on this in the next year.
