Titanium femurs are real, but so are their risks
This total femur from Stryker is made from titanium, cobalt chrome, and polyethylene. (Stryker/)For February, we’re focusing on the body parts that shape us, oxygenate us, and power us as we take long walks on the beach. Bony bonafide bones. These skeletal building blocks inspire curiosity and spark fear in different folks—we hope our stories, covering everything from surgeries and supplements to good old-fashioned boning, will only do the first. Once you’ve thoroughly blasted your mind with bone facts, check out our previous themed months: muscle and fat.In a 2017 episode of ABC’s medical drama, The Good Doctor, a patient’s thigh bone is so shattered following an accident that, instead of amputating the leg, the physicians in the show 3D-print a titanium femur and insert it into the man’s leg. Presto: The limb is saved. The episode is called “Not Fake”—a reference to the fact that the artificial bone is...