Video: You can print body parts

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Do you want Luke Skywalker’s bionic hand? Thanks to 3D printing technology, soon you will be able to have it.

This video will give you a glimpse at how the line between man and machine is already merging in medicine and prosthetics.

YouTube channel Venture City profiles advances in prosthetics and medicine made possible thanks to 3D printing technology. These include bionic limbs that look like they came out of Tony Stark’s lab, as well as augmented arms that could be the interface for controlling a giant robot.

This 3D printing technology is not limited to prosthetics. Venture City further details how 3D printers are being used to create titanium-based rib cages to protect patients’ internal organs after surgery, as well as knee caps that can transmit data over the internet.

Even whole organs are being created using “bio-printers,” printers that use ink made of tissue cells and other organic material. Examples profiled in this video include creating replacement jaw bones and grafting skin on burn victims.

It may be that the worlds of “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” and “Cyberpunk: 2077 are closer than we think.

Terrence J. Smith is MetaStellar's assistant fiction editor. He has contributed his writing to nonprofits and both print and digital publications. He enjoys all things technology, but remembers to meditate and appreciate the outside world.