Back in January, I had surgery to correct femoral-acetabular impingement with cam impingement (basically, I was born with a bunch of extra bone in my hip socket, and over the years, it had caused a series of worsening problems and would have eventually necessitated hip replacement). My clever wife worked with Joris from the 3D printing startup i.materialise to produce a 3D model of my pre-op femur based on my MRIs, and then they outputted a miniature of that sucker in stainless steel with a ring for me to string onto my keyring.
The surgery is very much with me (I’ve been off the cane for a week, but something went wrong on Saturday and I could barely walk all weekend), but someday soon, it’ll be a thing of the distant past. This is a fine and futuristic little memento of the unfortunate exuberance of my bones. Thanks, Alice and Joris!
Update: Joris sez, “Glad you like the hip. It’s bronze-infused stainless steel and not titanium though.” And now you know!