Suspended Animation ~ Cool Emergency Surgery

The Guardian's Science Editor Ian Sample wrote in Nov 2019 about Humans put into suspended animation for first time...

"The process involves rapidly cooling the brain to less than 10C by replacing the patient’s blood with ice-cold saline solution. Typically the solution is pumped directly into the aorta, the main artery that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Known formally as emergency preservation and resuscitation, or EPR, the procedure is being trialled on people who sustain such catastrophic injuries that they are in danger of bleeding to death and who suffer a heart attack shortly before they can be treated."

This seems to me to be proto-cryonics as well as learning lessons from the many accidental hypothermia cases.

New Skull ~ 3DPrinted Replacement Braincase!

Wired's Nicholas Tufnell notes that Neurosurgeons successfully implant 3D printed skull at the UMC Utrecht hospital...

"A 22-year-old woman from the Netherlands who suffers from a chronic bone disorder -- which has increased the thickness of her skull from 1.5cm to 5cm, causing reduced eyesight and severe headaches -- has had the top section of her skull removed and replaced with a 3D printed implant. The operation, which took 23 hours, was led by Dr Bon Verweij. The patient's skull was so thick, that had the operation not been performed, serious brain damage or death may have occurred in the near future. [...] The lead surgeon had previous experience with 3D reconstructions of skulls, but such a large implant had never been accomplished before. "It is almost impossible to see that she's ever had surgery," said Dr Verweij in the university's official statement. It is hoped this technique can also be used for patients with other bone disorders or to repair severely damaged skulls after an accident or tumour.

And here's UMC Utrecht's surgery video...

Beautiful Transplant ~ Most Extensive Facial Yet...

Breathtaking progress in the world of medical transplantation and reconstructive surgery! The DailyMail shows the case of...

"Richard Lee Norris, 37, who suffered horrendous injuries in a gun accident in 1997, is recovering well and already brushing his teeth and shaving after last week's surgery, according to doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center in United States. Pictured (left) is Mr Norris before his accident, (center) shortly after his accident and (right) as he now looks following his face transplant."

Kudos to lead Dr Eduardo Rodriguez and the whole surgical team! See also my earlier write-up on Connie Culp and Isabelle Dinoire plus also the Spaniard "Oscar". Also, here's AlJazeera coverage of the press conference and more backstory...

Image Guidance ~ New Bio-Optical Surgical Tools

Thanks to Discover for spotting Nature Medicine piece by Van Dam, et al in To Clean Out Tumors During Surgery, Make Them Glow...

"Getting out every last bit of a tumor can be difficult -- when you’ve got a patient open on the operating table, cancer cells don’t look any different from normal ones. But tag tumor cells with a glowing protein and turn the lights off, as scientists did in a recent study, and those things stand out like glo-sticks..."