New to the forum and have a question about sourcing a TiN magnet
Hello, I am new around and have been doing my research into implanting a magnet. I had one failed attempt, after doing a small amount of research I stupidly bought some magnets that I thought were tiny (had nothing really to compare it to) which were 6mm dia x 3mm thick gold plated. Anyway, I was smart enough to stop before I started increasing the size of the pouch.
I live in the UK, and so far I have only been able to find 1 place that sells TiN coated magnets in the size I need however their postage costs are about 6 times the price of the magnet, and most of the other custom magnet places ive found to make a gold AND parylene coated magnet, are also in america. Dangerousthings m31 is out of sale until further notice, so I am wondering if someone may have a recommendation for where to buy magnets until dangerous things put the m31 back up?
Otherwise I already have everything I need for the implantation procedure,
isopropyl to sterilise,
scalpel,
thin needle (which I bent to a slight curve to help with the sutures),
I live in the UK, and so far I have only been able to find 1 place that sells TiN coated magnets in the size I need however their postage costs are about 6 times the price of the magnet, and most of the other custom magnet places ive found to make a gold AND parylene coated magnet, are also in america. Dangerousthings m31 is out of sale until further notice, so I am wondering if someone may have a recommendation for where to buy magnets until dangerous things put the m31 back up?
Otherwise I already have everything I need for the implantation procedure,
isopropyl to sterilise,
scalpel,
thin needle (which I bent to a slight curve to help with the sutures),
superglue (haven't made my mind up yet but I might do superglue and maybe 1 suture),
monofilament nylon fishing line for the sutures (Ive seen people suggest using cotton thread but I dont like that idea),
a pair of scissors to help open the pouch (small curved blunt edge scissors)
monofilament nylon fishing line for the sutures (Ive seen people suggest using cotton thread but I dont like that idea),
a pair of scissors to help open the pouch (small curved blunt edge scissors)
for pain management, in my naive first attempt, simply ice was sufficient (and I forgot a tourniquet), plus getting lidocaine in this country is a complete nightmare, all I can get is the topical skin cream, i think personally ice will work better, though with ice I have to work quicker.
for anti-septic cream for aftercare I am going to grab that when I next go shopping, I don't feel like I need it though as I have never ever used or needed anti septic or disinfectant before but it will be handy to have anyway.
Anyway, thanks for any info/opinions/help.
Anyway, thanks for any info/opinions/help.
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What I did was to use "rock tips" - a product designed for toughening finger tips for playing guitar and other stringed instruments - this is cheap and still medical grade and comes with a handy brush applicator. I've used standard cheap superglue in the past for sticking things to myself and there's a massive difference in skin irritation when you use the wrong kind - you do NOT want the cheap kind in a wound.
Just looked into rock tips and it looks interesting. May grab some and give it a go.
I was told that iso is sufficient to sterilise, however the implements etc would need to soak for a minimum of 6-10 mins then would stay sterile for a short time?
How hard is clorahexidine to get in the UK? There are so many prohibited things that aren't allowed in the post anymore and *must* be couriered.
I have done as much researching as I can find articles at the moment. Read ALOT of the stuff here, and done what research I can on understanding properly the anatomy of the human fingers/hand and what NOT to accidentally damage!! hahaa
Cassox has a good number of RFID's and m31's for it. You shouldn't have to wait all too long (month or so max) before Amal has them back up on Dangerous things!
"Thanks for checking in. We are in full fledged "square one" mode now. We had a good thing going with our manufacturer but something changed there and every magnet we get back from them is shit now. Every. Single. One. I've flown out
to explain things to them and what it is we need and still I am getting
zero usable magnets. So, I'm back to square one looking for a new
manufacturer. The problem has extended to m31s as well now and we've had
to stop selling those also.
quality magnets, but I'm at a loss as to when that might be possible."
So, there you have. It could be awhile before new stock of m31s becomes available. Amal's a man of his word, so no worries on the eventual availability of the m36s (and, presumably, m31s). I've not cancelled my order for m36s, but I have sourced some gold-plated cylinders (custom manufacturing run because the size I wanted didn't present itself after a couple days of googling) that I'm going to have rhodium-plated locally (rhodium being one of Cassox's suggestions). Once I have the gold-plated magnets, I'll likely be offering them up here on the forum for a decent price (minus the rhodium plating). I had to buy a BUNCH of them to get the manufacturing run done and I will have tons of excess. Mainly, I wanted to try rhodium "for science", but I know some people have implanted just gold-plated with success. Rhodium plating is a bit pricey, but nearly any jewelry shop that does repair work could do it for you.
Regarding iso vs. chlorhexidine, I used iso for my first implants then switched to chlorhex for the later ones. I suspect in most cases, iso would be fine.
And as to pain management, yeah, don't skimp there. The last thing you want to do is pass out or suddenly jerk your hand from pain while you've got a scalpel or needle in there. Some people don't use it, but that's just stupid, really. (I feel comfortable calling others stupid for that because I'm one of those stupid people; if I can call myself that, I can call others that, too.)
Before deciding, you could test by using a sterile scalpel to cut yourself on the other hand and seeing how you handle the pain - obviously you need to take the same care to prevent infection, but it'll give you an idea before you end up screwing up an actual implant procedure.
I might add only one has replied saying they are able to do Titanium Nitride.
For pain management, I have already tried using just ice. I think the procedure will take longer with ice as I had to keep returning my finger to the ice every 10-20 seconds, but certainly no pain if I leave my finger on ice for 2-3 minutes before starting (this time I won't forget the tourniquet!!).
I'm intrigued about a rhodium coating because i've done a lot of looking on "in vivo" materials and I haven't seen rhodium as a suggestion.. Also Amal said to me that they are currently looking into a "Only TItanium" coating.
As to TiN coatings. I'm working as hard as I can to get my setup working so people can start getting things coated. My reactor blew up this week and is refusing to cooperate so i'm still a month out but once i've got it sorted, if amal can't get magnets out, I may be able to help. But that's a good month away at least since trouble shooting something like this is a pain (see, it has a tendency to explode, er sorry, implode). So patience is your best bet.
Rhodium is expensive if memory serves and just as difficult to get onto your magnets as TiN. A plain titanium coat is slightly easier but not by much. Zirconium is also good and I've been looking into that as well, but it's got the same coating issues as the other metals.
Tl:dr use lido, ice is not a valid technique anymore and suck it up a needle prick hurts less than the surgery.
I have had stitches before. On my forearm. The local wore off after 2 of 8 stitches.
When I finally get the M31 I will use Lido, however I believe that I had (in my last attempt) made a pouch large enough for the m31 with no tourniquet and just ice. Just because it's stupid doesn't mean its any more or less stupid than putting a foreign object inside your body.
if your lido wore off that fast you should've just told the doc and he should've given you more. I'd hate to get stiched raw.
Wait. no tourneqet....and ice. This is why we can't have nice things. We can't help you if you're gonna ignore protocol entierly. All of these things have a purpose. Putting a foreign object in your body is far from stupid. everything has been thought out and considered and improved over years. The object has special coatings to make it safe. The procedure is such that it is as painless and easy as possible. Eventually we'll start adding special sealants and growth factors and on and on and on. My point is that this isn't something your gut is gonna give you an appropriate feeling on. Follow protocol or risk getting hurt. That's your call.
On the other hand, excess bleeding could of course BECOME a big problem if you screw it up and don't have the right tools on hand to manage it.
I have yet to find Lidocaine in an injectable form anywhere on ebay, in fact anywhere on mainstream shopping sites inc Amazon which I can usually find things that might be usually be legal to buy in this country.
Also Chironex, it's not about ignoring protocol. Any surgeon will tell you there are always risks involved with surgery no matter how closely they stick to protocol. What I am saying is a "risk" is just that, a possibility, maybe you aspirate then accidently move the needle slightly. Not saying it will happen but I am saying it *can* happen. When I look at something that involves risk, the risk isn't always in context of protocol... Just because there is a process in place to minimise or eliminate a risk, doesn't mean that all possibility of said risk is ended by pure virtue of having a set of protocols in place. Surgeons have protocols to follow, yet still occasionally someone ends up finding a pair of surgical scissors left inside their gut!! There is protocol there, they are mount to count every implement before and after surgery, and despite there being a protocol in place, it still doesn't mean it won't happen. Yes you could argue that said surgeon didn't follow protocol, but what if the protocol WAS followed and it was a simple miscount? What if the surgeon aspirated a needle then accidentally moved it by a small amount that it pierced a vein and allowed a substance to enter directly into the blood stream? It still CAN happen despite protocol, at least that I how I think of the risk - reward paradigm. Same goes for risk - reward of ice. Yes it CAN cause frostbite, in my mind, frostbite is easier to treat than cardiac arrest!!! and fyi after some research on the risks of lidocaine as a local anaesthetic, one website I will quote "To avoid intravascular injection, aspiration should be performed before the local anesthetic solution is injected. The needle must be repositioned until no return of blood can be elicited by aspiration. Note, however, that the absence of blood in the syringe does not guarantee that intravascular injection has been avoided."
Just because a method is tried and tested still doesn't mean that method is correct in 100% of cases :) But thank you for your advice and info :)
We have told you, the benefits of lido are not only the pain reduction. It reduces trauma to the implant site, improves healing rate and will assist in the plasticity of the skin as compared to ice.
You're putting several carts before a horse here, and if you choose to use a rusty knife and an icicle to get a magnet under your skin, you will reject.
Half of the stigma with this stuff is that it looks painful anyways. ('How often do you get a 'That must've really hurt!')