Right, top >
Skorpion Medical
This 3D printout of a
hand, created by the
Italian biomedical
engineering company
Skorpion Medical,
is an example of
the advances in
prototyping assistive
tech for the elderly- from personalised
devices for
arthritis patients,
through walkers and
hearing aids, to the
HU-GO 3D printed
wheelchair. Skorpion
Medical prints off
unique orthopaedic
and orthodontic
implants to support
and replace damaged
limbs or failing
teeth, and can
model organs to
aid surgeons’
preparation ahead
of an operation.
Above
Biobank
Lab technician Steve
Hoyland works in
the UK’s Biobank DNA
store, in Stockport- one of many bio-
repositories around
the world. The UK
Biobank study is
following 500,000
volunteers (aged
40 to 69 when they
enrolled in 2006) for
at least 30 years.
Similar projects
have identified links
between parental
longevity and
children’s risk of
age-related disease;
described the micro-
structural changes
in ageing brains;
shown that chromosome
structure has an
impact on lifespan;
and identified genes
that affect ageing.
Right, below >
Cryomed Clinic
Japan opened the
first cryo-sauna in
the late 1970s. Now
the Cryomed Clinic
in Tokyo is one of
hundreds of private
clinics worldwide
offering cryotherapy.
Inspired by ice packs
placed on swollen
tissue to reduce
inflammation, and
cryo-surgery – using
extreme cold to
destroy tumours or
diseased tissues – a
cryo-sauna typically
involves a three-
minute bath in liquid
nitrogen, producing
temperatures of below
-100°C. The intention
is to accelerate
the metabolism,
strengthen the immune
system, and slow
tissue ageing.09-19-FTimmortality.indd 124 10/07/2019 22:29