Driverless cars to boost demand for 3D printed organs

[Shawn Knight]

We've already discussed the many ways that self-driving vehicles will eventually change modern-day society. And as the FBI recently reminded us, there are also some repercussions that most haven't even thought of.

During a recent interview with Fortune, MakerBot founder Bre Pettis brings up another interesting question as it relates to autonomous vehicles. As self-driving cars make our roads safer, where will we get organs?

It's a bit morbid to think about but it's a legitimate question. Automobile accidents are a major source of organ donations so without them, we will need another source. That other source, Pettis claims, will be 3D printed organs - a field that won't really take off until self-driving cars create demand.

It's a legitimate concern that few have likely pondered. As it is today, someone that's sick and in need of an organ transplant simply has to sit on a waiting list until someone else dies. Often times, that death occurs because of an auto accident. Eliminate accidents and you eliminate your source of organs.

Essentially, it's solving one problem and creating another.

And it's a problem that will need to be figured out sooner rather than later. That's because self-driving vehicles for the masses aren't really all that far off. The UK is planning a public beta test of sorts early next year while Google is already tackling busy city driving.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/57762-driverless-cars-boost-demand-3d-printed-organs.html

 

[davislane1]

"Automobile accidents are a major source of organ donations so without them, we will need another source. "

This sounds like it would make a good premise for a movie. Oh, wait...

 

[VitalyT]

Dumbest premise yet, akin to Obsessive Compulsive Irrationality, aka idiocy.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Yet it may be the straw to the camel's back. Why not use the 3D tech to form living tissue? Great idea - and I am so glad it is shared on a public forum... so it can't be patented.

 

[fimbles]

"Automobile accidents are a major source of organ donations so without them, we will need another source. "

I suggest using apple maps for the robocars GPS.

 

[wastedkill]

Well what do you expect from people eating cheese cakes & apple crumble whilst getting driven everywhere they are gonna get fat and need to replace their failing arteries & organs its not rocket science...

 

[Greg S]

"Automobile accidents are a major source of organ donations so without them, we will need another source. "

I suggest using apple maps for the robocars GPS.

I actually laughed at this comment. That way, you might have cars driving through your backyard.

 

[davislane1]

Well what do you expect from people eating cheese cakes & apple crumble whilst getting driven everywhere...

I expect them to give me a slice of that cheese cake.

 

[Dukenukemx]

I don't like how the organ business is reliant on car accidents to get their organs. Less people dying to car accidents? How are rich people going to get those organs they so desperately need?

 

[misor]

I don't like how the organ business is reliant on car accidents to get their organs. Less people dying to car accidents? How are rich people going to get those organs they so desperately need?

they buy them from the black market?

 

[mailpup]

Yet it may be the straw to the camel's back. Why not use the 3D tech to form living tissue? Great idea - and I am so glad it is shared on a public forum... so it can't be patented.

Publishing an invention or idea on a public forum does not protect it from being patented. That's why you patent things in the first place so no one else steals your idea and patents it before you. Plenty of people can invent the same thing independently but the first to patent it "wins."

 

[red1776]

This really smacks of a journalist ( The FBI and Bre Pettis not Shawn) being to clever by half, or needing a story. I'm not claiming to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination, however with a minimal amount of introspection applied, this seems to be a problem that will be self balancing. Less auto accidents will decrease the need for transplant organs by 'X' amount in proportion to the accidents that are now not happening.
also as you can see from the CDC/NHS statistics, of the 4.4% of the 'accident category, many of those are caused by falls in the home ( the number one cause of deaths at home.) and all other types of 'accidents'. If 3D organ printing is needed it would seem to be largely because people are living longer and for the rest of the list of causes , not the 4.4% of the 'Accident' category which will drop to a much lower number when these driverless cars supposedly vastly reduce this category anyway. This article seems to be about a bunch of hand wringing that the O.E.M.'s will still be using their organs.
Kind of has a Orwellian/Brave new world flavor to it.

<<< end of pontificating rant

Where you live has a good deal to do with how you will die. In the United States, the top two causes of death are responsible for more than 50 percent of the annual death toll. In the world at large, there's a lot more variety in how you meet your Maker. Here is our list of the 15 most common causes of death in the United States:

Cause
Percent of Total
1. Diseases of the heart 28.5
2. Malignant tumors 22.8
3. Cerebrovascular diseases 6.7
4. Chronic lower respiratory diseases 5.1
5. Accidents (unintentional injuries) 4.4
6. Diabetes mellitus 3.0
7. Influenza and pneumonia 2.7
8. Alzheimer's disease 2.4
9. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis 1.7
10. Septicemia (blood poisoning) 1.4
11. Suicide 1.3
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis 1.1
13. Primary hypertension and hypertensive renal disease 0.8
14. Parkinson's disease (tied) 0.7
15. Homicide (tied) 0.7
Source: CDC/NHS, National Vital Statistics System

 

[Egon Spengler]

Yet it may be the straw to the camel's back. Why not use the 3D tech to form living tissue? Great idea - and I am so glad it is shared on a public forum... so it can't be patented.

Publishing an invention or idea on a public forum does not protect it from being patented. That's why you patent things in the first place so no one else steals your idea and patents it before you. Plenty of people can invent the same thing independently but the first to patent it "wins."

Maybe yes and maybe no. An idea disclosed on a public forum could be considered "prior art". And that would invalidate any patent claiming the same idea. Patent lawyers make a good living arguing such minutiae.

 

[mailpup]

Doesn't mean they'll win.

 

[tonylukac]

You won't need insurance either.

 

[Snowden]

I can assure you that the NSA already has this covered. There will be bugs built into every self-driving car to ensure that 'donors' can be arranged on demand.

 

[captaincranky]

Are you all so insufferably lazy, stupid, or just plain indolent, that you actually want self driving cars? Is that so you'll have more time to "tweet" inane nothings like, "duh, my car is driving me to work".

In this sorry a** excuse for a society, something as imbecilic as that is liable to net you 10,000 followers.

"Oh death, where is thy sting"? (William Shakespeare)

 

[red1776]

Are you all so insufferably lazy, stupid, or just plain indolent, that you actually want self driving cars? Is that so you'll have more time to "tweet" inane nothings like, "duh, my car is driving me to work".

In this sorry a** excuse for a society, something as imbecilic as that is liable to net you 10,000 followers.

"Oh death, where is thy sting"? (William Shakespeare)

^ spot on.
Not to mention ( however I will anyway) driving is one of the great sensory experiences of our time.

 

[Bubbajim]

Are you all so insufferably lazy, stupid, or just plain indolent, that you actually want self driving cars? Is that so you'll have more time to "tweet" inane nothings like, "duh, my car is driving me to work".

In this sorry a** excuse for a society, something as imbecilic as that is liable to net you 10,000 followers.

"Oh death, where is thy sting"? (William Shakespeare)

^ spot on.
Not to mention ( however I will anyway) driving is one of the great sensory experiences of our time.

Ever been a passenger in someone else's car? Ever taken a taxi? Or a bus? Or a train? Or (is my point made yet?). Did you feel oh-so deprived because it wasn't you behind the wheel?

I highly doubt it. Lots of us aren't fussed on driving, so if the car is automated, that's great!

I'd rather be driven somewhere and have the "great sensory experience" of reading a book, rather than concentrate on the people around me who might kill me because they can't drive properly.

 

[Guest]

Most of the time when I'm a passenger in a car, I'm usually annoyed by their driving. I very much prefer to drive myself. Of course if ALL cars were automated, then there would no longer be traffic. Cars would communicate with one another and literally drive bumper to bumper at high speeds. Every car would be able to instantly brake and accelerate at the same time.

Although I could hide in a sewer and launch a metal post up from the ground causing all the cars to crash... seems like a lot of effort though. I'd have to buy nose plugs, and those are never comfortable.

 

[captaincranky]

Ever been a passenger in someone else's car? Ever taken a taxi? Or a bus? Or a train? Or (is my point made yet?). Did you feel oh-so deprived because it wasn't you behind the wheel?

I highly doubt it. Lots of us aren't fussed on driving, so if the car is automated, that's great!

I'd rather be driven somewhere and have the "great sensory experience" of reading a book, rather than concentrate on the people around me who might kill me because they can't drive properly.

Well, you've obviously never been on the backseat of a motorcycle.

I expect sitting in the corner and sucking your thumb would be a "great sensory experience", to you.

And no, you haven't made your point, and likely never will.

Most of the time when I'm a passenger in a car, I'm usually annoyed by their driving. I very much prefer to drive myself. Of course if ALL cars were automated, then there would no longer be traffic. Cars would communicate with one another and literally drive bumper to bumper at high speeds. Every car would be able to instantly brake and accelerate at the same time..

Yeah, pretty soon there will be enough of us to put in driverless semi trailers and deliver to the meat packing plant. To say nothing of the crumbling infrastructure we call "highways and bridges".

Aren't you worried about the lack of privacy, as Skynet and the NSA, program and spy on you every move, right down to the last fart on the way to "work"?

But I agree with one of your points, the cars will be soon smarter than you.

 

[wiyosaya]

Why not just get the organs from deaths due to medical mistakes?

I hate to sound morbidly cynical here, but it is well-known that the number of deaths from medical mistakes in the US is three times that of the deaths from car accidents.

Gotta agree with you, red1776, this does smack of some journalist looking for their 15-seconds of fame. This is pure speculation, nothing scientific about this at all.

 

[captaincranky]

Why not just get the organs from deaths due to medical mistakes?

I hate to sound morbidly cynical here, but it is well-known that the number of deaths from medical mistakes in the US is three times that of the deaths from car accidents..

There's 6 BILLION of us now! What say we make it so everybody lives forever!

Let's make it so that nobody has enough to eat, and nobody will be able to afford health insurance.

We've eradicated smallpox, (mostly), what say we eradicate death altogether?

And while you're at it, print me a new a**hole will ya?

 

[Guest]

@ captaincranky: I have a brand new car, 2014, I guarantee you I am already tracked through the built in gps. Not to mention I carry my phone with me everywhere I go. You don't need driverless vehicles to worry about the NSA.

 

[captaincranky]

@ captaincranky: I have a brand new car, 2014, I guarantee you I am already tracked through the built in gps. Not to mention I carry my phone with me everywhere I go. You don't need driverless vehicles to worry about the NSA.

Indeed. But, do you really want or need them to take you where you're going as well?

OTOH, I have a 1991 Honda "Nighthawk". The only thing electronic about it is the CDI ignition. I don't have a mobile phone. Do I have more to lose than you, or less to lose than you? What thinkest thou?