Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Sophie Tonkes Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind Advanced technologies and ethics in medicine
Â
1 Â
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Â
2 Â
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Â
3 Â
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Intro: Do you know what advanced technologies are being used in medicine? My investigation is on advanced technologies and ethics in medicine. I have looked into 3D printing and animal medical testing. My first step was to look at how 3D printing is used in the medical field, explore the advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing, and the ethics involved in animal testing. How is 3D printing impacting health care? I looked into the 3D printed cast for broken arms, Mr Evill a New Zealand designer (who is 21 years old) was recognised in an international competition for his revolutionary exoskeleton cast. He made this exoskeleton cast so that no one had to deal with that old itchy plaster cast. His exoskeleton cast is made out of no-itch nylon and it was printed from a 3D printer. This revolutionary cast is made in three different steps. First a limb is X-rayed in order to identify where the break is. Second the arm is scanned in able to find the exact dimension of the arm. Finally the cast is 3D printed with all the dimensions that were scanned before. Mr Evill was inspired after the frustration of wearing a cast when he broke his hand. “Wrapping a broken or fractured arm in two kilos of clunky, soon to be smelly and itchy, plaster in this day seemed archaic to me," Mr Evill said in an earlier interview with APNZ. The spider web-like membrane means the waterproof cast is well ventilated, and printed reinforcements mean the cast is strongest where the bone is broken. (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11153868)
Â
4 Â
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
I interviewed Rebecca, a medical physicist from Futureintech and she told me about seven surgeries made possible by 3D printing. First, the 3D printed upper jaw on a 41 year old man: specialists used a CT scan to create a 3D reconstruction of a man's face. A replica of his mouth was then 3D printed and used as a template to produce a wax model, which was then hardened and fitted with teeth. With the prosthesis adjusted to fit snugly in place, the man's chewing swallowing speaking and other mouth movements are said to be considerably improved. Second, forming a new skull on a 22 year old women: the doctors worked with an Australian implant company to create a 3D model of patient's skull and printed an implant that would be an exact fit. While the increasing brain pressure threatened to impair the patient's coordination and other brain functions, the 3D printed implant led her to a full recovery. Third, Spinal fusion surgery: spinal fusion surgery is a complex procedure used to treat patients with conditions like disc denegation and spinal instability. An important tool in this process is the spine cage that had been tailored to the patient's anatomy, a team of French surgeons was able to implant the device in a woman back in May with great results. Fourth, replacing cancerous vertebra on a 12 year old boy: the artificial vertebra was secured in place by titanium screws and the specialist said it was an improvement on existing methods. Typically, the patient's head would need to be supported by pins and cannot touch the bed while they are resting for around three months afterwards. But through 3D printing, the doctors could replicate the shape of the original vertebra, making it much stronger. Following the surgery, the patient was said to be in good physical condition and recovering as expected.
5
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Fifth, titanium heel implant on a 71 year old man: using schematics of the heel bone, a titanium implant was printed and inserted into chandler's foot in July. Three months later, he was said to be recovering well and able to place some weight on his heel again. Sixth, 3D printed hip implant on a 15 year old Swedish girl: Mobelife (A Company) used a tomography scan to create a detailed picture of the patient's unique bone anatomy, ultimately printing an implant that would be secured with screws to the bone surrounding the defect. The operation was performed in September 2012 and eighteen months later she was walking entirely unaided. Seventh, complex heart surgery on a 14 month old boy: Using CT scans of the baby's heart, researchers at the University of Louisville were able to print a 3D model of the organ, measuring 1.5 times it actual size. This process took around 20 hours and cost US$600, but gave doctors unprecedented opportunity to plan prior to a heart surgery, seeing them repair the heart's defects in a single operation. Following his release from hospital, the boy was said to be in good health.
Blind mother-to-be gets the chance to 'see' her unborn son for the very first time after doctors surprise her with a 3D printout of his ultrasound Without the gift of sight, pregnancy can be a very different experience. But thanks to 3D printing technology, one blind mother-to-be was able to experience the emotional moment of ‘feeling' her child for the first time during an ultrasound, just like any other mother. Pregnant Tatiana Guerra, 30, from Brazil, lost her sight at age 17, and never imagined that she would get the chance to see her baby in the womb – until doctors surprised her with a 3D printout of a digital image of her child, allowing her to feel and almost see what her son’s facial features look like through touch, a precious memory that she would have otherwise never been able to have.
6
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3070976/Blind-mother-getschance-unborn-son-time-doctors-surprise-3D-printout-ultrasound.html ) Advantages of 3D printing New Structures and Shapes Traditional manufacturing methods depend on cutting and moulding technologies to create a limited number of structures and shapes, with more intricate hollow ones having to be formed from a number of parts and assembled together. However, 3D printing technology transforms this process the nozzle of the 3D printer can create many complex figures, being confined only by a person’s imagination. This method gives them higher structural integrity and more durability. The use of 3D printing technology takes virtual designs from animation modelling software or computer-aided design (CAD), converts them into thin, virtual, flat cross-sections and then produces successive layers until the complete model is produced. •
New Combinations of Materials Combining different raw materials isn’t always possible with mass production methods due to the high costs involved and to their chemical and physical properties that make them tricky to combine using traditional methods. 3D printing has eliminated many of these limitations not only because of the initial dependence on plastic, but also because of a constant innovation made by enthusiasts believing that 3D printing’s potential hasn’t been reached yet. lot of companies now provide tens of different materials with unique finishes producing the feel and look of glass, ceramics or metal with a variety of strengths and temperature resistance. •
Less Waste Manufacturing plastic and metal objects in particular is generally a wasteful process with a lot of surplus materials and chunky parts. For some aircraft builders, up to 90 percent of the material is usually wasted. Creating a similar object with the use of additive manufacturing not only utilizes less energy, but also minimizes waste. Other objects that can be made with the use of additive manufacturing include jewellery, footwear, automotive parts, and more. Sometimes, the finished product of 3D printing can be up to 60 percent lighter than the machined part but still sturdy. Large cost savings can be attained in this way and a smaller amount of waste also means a lesser effect on the environment. •
Disadvantages of 3D printing •
When melting plastic with heat or lasers, 3D printers consume about 50 to 100 times more electrical energy than injection moulding to make an item of the same weight. Because 3D printers are better for small
7
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
batch runs. Industrial-sized 3D printers may not be the answer to lessening our use of coal power any time soon •
One of the biggest environmental movements in recent history has been to reduce reliance on plastics, from grocery bags to water bottles to household objects that can be made from recycled materials instead. The most popular and cheapest 3D printers use plastic filament. Though using raw materials reduces the amount of waste in general, the machines still leave unused or excess plastic in the print beds.
•
Weapons can be printed and so can safety equipment such as helmets, wheels for bikes, and things that you have in your house.
My opinion I think that 3D printing will be used in the future even more widely than it is now. Also I think that it will impact greatly in the medical field. In the future we might even 3D print things we use daily, like cars, bikes and maybe even phones and iPads. Should animals be used for testing/research? Human beings use animals for a wide variety of purposes, including medial research. By studying animals, it is possible to obtain information that cannot be learned in any other way. When a new drug or surgical technique is developed, the community decides if it is bad to use on human beings, because it is possible that it could cause harm rather than good. Instead, the drug or technique is tested on animals to make sure that it is safe and effective. So when you think about it, it sounds inhumane but it is saving humans lives. Stop animal testing Do you think that it is right to test animal is your answer NO? mine is. I think under any circumstances animals should not suffer just so humans can have new and improved hair products and soap that makes your skin so soft in a week "Not". Many animals have died just for that and they also have a terrible life if their body's been tested on. Each year more than 100 million animals died thanks to us testing on them. Fact: Did you know that animal testing can be replaced by at least 450 alternatives? That’s right people, people are only testing on animals just because it's easy. If you want to test on something alive then why don't we test on the millions of people who are volunteering to be tested on? These people are heroes who are willing to go through torture and maybe even death, to help the animals that we are killing. What can we do to help?
8
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
Obviously kids can't stop animal testing by ourselves but we can help stop it. Here are 4 ways to help stop animal testing 1. Go cruelty-free! The first step in stopping animal testing is to pledge that you won’t buy products that are tested on animals. Pledge to be cruelty-free and share it with your friends and family. Taking the pledge with someone is a great way to spread the word about animal testing. 2. START AT HOME It is easy to help a home, just look at all the beauty and cleaning products in your home and see if they say, “Not tested on animals.” If they do that is great! You are already helping cute white rat. 3. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Gather every product that you could replace if it doesn't say "not tested on animals" and ask an adult to help you write to the companies that made them. Tell the companies that you will no longer be purchasing their products because you were horrified to find out that they were tested on animals. You can even mail the companies there products back e.g. hair product or cleaning products. 4. SPREAD THE WORD! Tell your friends and family about animal testing and encourage them to buy only cruelty-free products. Hand out stickers and leaflets to your friends at school. If you convince three people to go cruelty-free, and they, in turn, convince three people that means 12 people are helping you save animals from animal testing. “Help ban animal testing world wide” Yes to animal testing I think animal testing shouldn't be banned because if we didn't test on animals, what would we test on? We don't want to test on ourselves do we? And how would we be able to find out if this new and improved shampoo was safe for humans, if we had nothing to test on? We wouldn't even be able to make new medicines to help cure diseases and sicknesses and even Cancer! If we stopped animal testing right now, 47,987,000 people would have little hope of surviving diseases that we have in our world now E.G. cancer and Ebola also if someone had an accident it would be hard to recover because we wouldn't the right medicine to help the pain. Did you know that if we never did any animal testing, you, me and mostly everyone else in the school wouldn't be here? Right? I'm very sure that you wouldn't want that would you? To me I think that almost everyone in the world loves animals so why do we do tests on them? We test on them because at the moment there are lots of
9
Sophie Tonkes: Advanced technologies can provoke and challenge Humankind
sicknesses and diseases killing humans in an instant. Scientists are trying to prevent from testing animals but we can stop now, what is the point there are so many animals in this world that you probably wouldn't be able to count them. Say you had mice in your house. Your mum or dad lays out mouse traps that can't kill mice but can capture them. Once you've caught them, what now? Release them and let them kill native birds and animals? Instead of releasing them or killing them and throwing them into the rubbish bin, why not test on them and save human lives. One mouse can save many lives, plus one more if the mouse is lucky enough to save themselves. If the science departments needed mice to test on and every second that they waste, lives are gone with it. I support animal testing with finding cures for diseases and I say YES for it to carry on and continue saving lives. YES FOR ANIMAL TESTING!!! My opinion: I believe that animal testing can be a two sided argument for example some people can believe that animal testing can help us in life and through many different things, and some people can think that animal testing is just dumb and there is no point of doing it because all it is doing is killing animals and get us new beauty products. Conclusion: In conclusion I think that 3D printing and animal testing both have advantages and disadvantages. I think that 3D printing is beneficial because it is helping in the medical field. But it I also think that it is bad because it uses lots of electricity and you can print weapons, which could be dangerous. The advantages of animal testing is it can save people's lives and help us make new medicines to help cure diseases that were incurable in the past. Animal lovers can only see disadvantages with animal testing and feel that animal's lives are more important than make up. I can only see the benefits to the use of 3D printing as an advanced technology but I am undecided about animal testing. What is your perspective? Bibliography http://calipermedia.com/the-advantages-of-3d-printing/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3070976/Blind-mother-getschance-unborn-son-time-doctors-surprise-3D-printout-ultrasound.html http://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-dark-side-of-3d-printing-10-thing http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11153868 Rebecca, a medical physicist from Futureintech
Â
10 Â