3D Medicine (almost) no longer the realm of Sci-Fi

Not strictly Augmented Reality specific but close enough...

Anyone remember the DNA regeneration scene from the film "The Fifth Element" ?

In the film, some remains of a sole "survivor" are found (a heavily gloved hand)ת from which an apparently very complex DNA is extracted and used to regenerate the entire body.

At first the skeleton is printed (in a form similar to 3D printing), then the rest of the organic tissue is built on top of it, etc.

Well we might not be able to regenerate every organ yet, but the technology is already here in the form of biological 3D printing, to "print" specific organs.

Check out this talk by surgeon Antony Atala on "Printing a Human Kidney" on TED2011.


While we're on the topic of Sci-Fi reaching medicine... anyone who watched the Star Trek Next Generation series, probably saw one or more instances of this scene

Check this article on The Air Force Treating Wounds With Lasers and Nanotech [wired.com].


How about a virtual dissection tables as a teaching tool for future surgeons?
Check out this talk by Jack Choi on TED2012.