The use of Infuse bone graft is for many different purposes. One being that a patient may need Infuse for oral maxillofacial purposes and others might need it for posterolateral lumbar spine fusion. What ever the case Infuse is an effective way to have bone grow at a rapid rate while reducing the percentage of follow up surgery for the patient. According to a Medtronic news release in 2007 it is estimated that more than 350,000 bone grafting procedures to generate or regenerate bone in sinus augmentations and localized alveolar ridge augmentations for defects associated with extraction sockets are performed in the United States each year. Autogenous bone grafts, or bone harvested from other parts of the patient such as the tibia (shin), ilium (hip) or chin, are currently the standard grafting procedure used for these patients. INFUSE Bone Graft offers surgeons and their patients an alternative to autogenous bone grafting, possibly reducing patients’ pain, limiting scarring and reducing surgical time. According to Dr. Daniel Spagnoli an oral and maxillofacial surgeon with University Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Charlotte, NC he says “Patients come to see us with a multitude of problems and it’s our job to help patients discover methods to achieve their goals.” “When we talk to an individual, we have to think about more than the structural problem. We also consider the psychological and social aspects of missing teeth. INFUSE Bone Graft encourages bone growth to make it possible for them to have the corrective dental work that gives my patients a chance to have confidence, to feel good about their smile, to function well and to be able to enjoy a meal,” he added. What Dr. Spagnoli is saying relates to what our book Culture + Technology says about cyborgs. Acoording to our text a cyborg is an entity part human and part machine. (p. 169) When surgeons do work on our bodies to help us have a normal and a productive life they are essentially putting technology in our bodies that gives us an advantage to be able to continue with life normally. From putting artificial limbs on our bodies to help us to walk and swing our arms, to putting bone from one area to another area to help new bone grow in our mouth so we can eat, can all be argued that it is a form of creating a cyborg. According to The Spine Journal official journal of the North American Spine Society, a patient sample was taken. It states that 102 patients over the age of 60 years old required posterolateral lumbar spine fusion and all used Infuse Bone graft. Could this mean that our medicine is taking a step toward us all becoming cyborgs as we get older? Could this help us all to live longer and without back pains in the future. The answer to that will soon come, but medicine has definitely taking a huge step technologically where it is able to do things our bodies cannot. One being growing bone healthier, stronger and quicker like Infuse does.
Cyborgs?...It's a scary thought to me.I am young and technology has been a major part of my life growing up and it is still kind of hard for me to adapt to some of the technology that has developed.Even though some technology has made life "easier" for us and it helps some people with illnesses live life a little bit more relaxed, it is still some advancements that is strange and hard for me to cope with. That fact that Infuse Bone Graft offers surgeons and their patients an alternative to autogenous bone grafting, possibly reducing patients’ pain, limiting scarring and reducing surgical time is a great advancements but what about the side effects and the long term effects.Are they any?Sometimes the less pain and less time in that moment seems better , but the long term set backs are not worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteI guess in the case of dental work building back missing jaw line/teeth with bone is better than metal pieces, false teeth, or filling a tooth with mercury. I like the idea of cyborgs! I want to be able to punch someone through a wall with my menacing cyborgian might. But I digress, I feel the theme of a lot of these blog posts (my post included), and this class in general, is that technology is not always for the best. It is very refreshing to read something that is not very doomsday-ish.
ReplyDeleteI think the infuse bone graft is an amazing technology. I personally have reaped the benefits when I had oral surgery, a tooth implant, in which they used the bone graft to allow my new tooth to adhere to the bone. But the price was outrageous,and I had to take out a loan that took me two years to repay.Insurance companies view it as cosmetic surgery, so they do not offer any financial aid. This being the case, not everyone can benefit from this technology. Oral surgery and price that comes with it can stand as a marker of identifying the normal, and the deviant. The normal healthy person is the one with pristine teeth and the unhealthy one or deviant person is the one with the "jacked up"grill. This also becomes a way to classify a person by their treatment of their body which reflect race, gender, and social class. As stated in "Not just the Reflexive Reflex,"by Kosut and Moore, Bourdieu posits that "the body is most indisputable materialization of class taste" in one's hairstyle,clothing, diet, and even gate function as signs within a larger system of social positions"(p.11).
ReplyDeleteGreat job Phillip, this is great technology but gives me the creeps at the same time. Technology is getting crazier. As the years passes it seem as if a new technology is being dicovered by the mintues. The invention of Cyborgs is a great ideal for the people it suites. But everything looks good is not always good for you. The problem with new technology such as Bone Graft is sometimes has not been used often so it's really hard to tell if it's good technology. But we must also remember technology is pointed to thoes who it best fit.Wish them the best with Cyborgs!
ReplyDeleteThank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our. Minimally invasive bone graft
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