Making skin see-through; alternative to X-rays

Interesting new technique being developed to turn skin transparant. Ofcourse this is potentially very useful in the medical world to see under the skin in real time without digital filter, but I wonder if this could be one of those technologies that can spiral out of control and be used for military purposes for example? Or maybe worse like CNNs take on the possibilities of this technology;

"In H.G. Wells’ 1897 science fiction novel, “The Invisible Man,” ..

Anyway read the article for some crazy before and after pictures, and in the second one a video;

edition.cnn.com...

www.scientificamerican.com...

a reply to: ElitePlebeian2
Interesting stuff-I can see applications in field/battle medicine or other situations where X rays cannot be taken.

But the main use of this tech is going to be for zombie cosplay!

a reply to: ElitePlebeian2
Maybe off topic, but I once saw this sci-fi movie Night skies

In that movie extraterrestrials had a gell like crease substance that they rubbed on pregnant woman in captivity on a table .


3:00 minutes and starting

Weird how science fiction becomes science fact

I don't think human skin is thin enough for that to work enough to show organs, but it looks good enough to show veins.

Interesting.

Edited to add that I only saw now that on the CNN link they say human skin is 10 times thicker than mouse skin.

originally posted by: onestonemonkey
a reply to: ElitePlebeian2

But the main use of this tech is going to be for zombie cosplay!

I was thinking a similar thing. It is already available as an ingredient for making bath bombs.

www.ebay.com...

Soak in a bath and look like your skin came off.

Pretty cool. Chicken skin isn't quite as thick as human skin and they can see through that. Exciting stuff.

In the mouse picture, they are looking at a hairless, baby mouse with skin so thin you can already see the blood vessels and outline of organs. There is zero fat layer as well and you still just see a slightly better view. If it was non-embryonic human skin that had a fat layer (everyone does), it would be nearly useless in most cases.

This is akin to "seeing through" your five-guys fry bag because grease. I can't see much application except maybe for dermatological uses where they are literally looking at skin or subcutaneous issues that go no deeper than that. Implying that it could be an alternative to x-rays is pure sensationalism.

I wish news would be objective a bit more. Everything has just turned to click-bait. It is a new technique that might be useful in some particular area of of medicine or where they already have the tissue exposed but need to see a few layers down. Of course, they already have other dye techniques for that in many cases.

originally posted by: 0bserver1
a reply to: ElitePlebeian2
Maybe off topic, but I once saw this sci-fi movie Night skies

In that movie extraterrestrials had a gell like crease substance that they rubbed on pregnant woman in captivity on a table .

3:00 minutes and starting

Weird how science fiction becomes science fact

Looks pretty terrifying experience in that movie clip... don't think it's something I'd like very much. Not sure if I've seen that film or not... maybe a good watch 2nd time anyway.. if I have.

Wake up, read news...desire to return to the ocean depths increases exponentially.