The FDA has approved OsteoFab, "a cranial maxillo-facial (CMF) plate for skull reconstruction which can be used to replace up to 75% of the skull."

  • Brainspore

    If I ever need a replacement I hope I can order one with horns just to be more badass.

  • andygates

    Maybe a rude word in braille bumps?

    Holy moly future shock.  

  • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

    Now I just need an adamantium capable 3d printer.

    • theophrastvs

      did you know that 12,000 years ago – ok 1966 – the original (“now in Black and White!”) Wild Wild West had an episode where the villain had progressively replaced his entire skeleton with steel?  it’s true it’s true… http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0748577/  always thought those writers ought to sue…wait, when was Wolverine™ first comic’ed?

      • http://twitter.com/incarnedine_v Dan Hibiki

         no, he was actually a steam punk cyborg that replaced most of his body with robotic parts.

  • Tribune

    excuse me – we recently acquired patents covering your skull, please send us $10000 in unmarked bills or we will proceed with legal action and repossession. 

  • Prezombie

    The 75% figure is intriguing to me. Is it a specific 25% which they can’t replace yet?

    We’re another step closer to Ghost In the Shell’s braincases. Twice as strong as bone today, five times as strong with twice as much shock absorption as the factory model tomorrow.

    • Brainspore

      I’m guessing the area around the brain stem is probably pretty hard to install.

    • ldobe

      I’m simply amazed that people can survive having 75% of their skull removed at all. I’m imagining it’d look like the “leave Brittany alone” episode of south park where she ate a shotgun, except in real life there’d be a brain “hat”

      • Prezombie

        I would guess that it would be replaced in segments rather than a whole cap at once.

  • Jen Onymous

    That is actually fantastic news.  A close family member survived spinal cancer around 10 years ago, and had “old tech” artificial vertebrae put in.  Apparently they were made from denatured sea coral, and still needed to be held in place with steel rods; when he takes his shirt off you can see hex nuts under the skin on his lower back.  Custom-printable interlocking components may have spared him the metalworks.

  • Alexander Borsi

    I want to make an AR-15 receiver out of bone. I will then forever refer to it as the BoneShaker.

    • bcsizemo

      I think BoneCrusher might also work as well.

  • http://twitter.com/Eric_WVGG Eric Jacobsen

    See, this is the pragmatic way to fight the black market.