It is a major surgery and requires several weeks of recovery.It, however, is a procedure one should avoid unless absolutely necessary. “Limb lengthening surgery is done after an accident or due to infection, cancer or by birth, when one limb ends up shorter than other. If the risk is more than the benefit then it is better to avoid it,” explains Dr N.Leg-lengthening procedures were originally used to treat limb defects or injuries, but recently a growing trend has emerged and patients, especially youngsters, request doctors for the sole purpose of getting taller. consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Care Hospitals. And with youngsters having enough money these days, they don’t mind splurging on the procedure. People at large are subconsciously influenced by celebrities or anything that brings them closer to them. Later they regret it and undergo treatments, procedures and surgeries that not only lower their prospects of better health but also have a devastating effect on their psyche. The short limb is lengthened by few inches, using this technique. Otherwise dealing with complications will be difficult and will lead to unacceptable outcomes.

Jithendran, consultant aesthetic, plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Global Hospitals. Jithendran. The new kid on the plastic surgery block is limb lengthening. It could help with the marriage and career prospects, but it’s just an aspect of an unrevealed psyche that somewhere yearns for a better aesthetic appearance. The same surgery done by two different surgeons will lead to two different outcomes,” adds Dr N. Most places where you undergo procedures are not competent in dealing with any complications that may arise. The risk-benefit ratio has to be assessed before undergoing any procedure. More importantly, it should be acknowledged that height, unlike weight, has significant genetic impact and one should learn to be happy with what they have.Botox, facelifts and implants are passé. The same surgery is rarely performed on both limbs to increase the height,” says Dr Priti Shukla, consultant plastic and cosmetic surgeon, Ambrosia Clinic.Concentrate on health than enhancing featuresThe Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) has advised people not to do the surgery unless for rare cases.

So, the cosmetic surgeon should also have a good reconstructive surgery background. “One should understand China double color injection molding machine that these procedures range from simple to complex and have two sides of the coin — benefit and risk. Choosing the right surgeon is importantAn aspiring actor spent lakhs for having his legs surgically lengthened.“Another thing is to make sure that all cosmetic procedures are done by a trained plastic surgeon. People must understand that doing the bare minimum for good health, like exercising, a good diet and sound sleep are more than enough and should do the needful in bringing out a good personality,” says Dr Praveen Mereddy, Sr. Although Ilizarov (limb lengthening) surgery is an effective way of lengthening the bones up to four to six inches, doctors advise not to go for this extremely slow and painful procedure just for cosmetic purposes. In the formative years, people don’t take adequate proteins or practice other factors that contribute towards a desirable height.“What eventually matters is our overall health and not an enhanced feature. It is always best to verify the credentials of the surgeon before putting yourself under his knife

"These biodegradable materials, natural materials, they are very flexible so they can be used for robotic skins. So like  this, in all these existing materials we are giving new properties that these materials don't have so we can open up their application range," explained Athanassia Athanassiou, who leads the Smart Materials Group at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa.In particular, robotics could be an important application for their research, according to Athanassiou. Athanassiou's team have developed a way to create bioplastic from food waste, and so hope to mitigate the additional energy required by using resources that would normally go to waste.Robots are getting ever more life-like, but underneath their synthetic skin it's a different story. So what we are doing apart from making these new composite materials - smart materials - we're also using them to change the properties of other materials, other existing materials like paper or cotton or different foams; from synthetic foams like polyurethane or forms of cotton.The researchers say their 'smart materials' could eventually replace conventional plastic which is made from petroleum, a fossil fuel, and contributes to climate change.

And also, in this flexible skin - robotic skin let's say - we can incorporate sensors so they have this tactile sensing that the robots need, but with biodegradable materials," Athanassiou told Reuters."The main issue is it's actually difficult to see how you can achieve the properties that you want to have; say matching more the properties of the human body. Bioplastics are made from plant material, but are more energy-intensive to produce. But they can be also very hard so they can be used for internal parts of a robot.While Athanassiou believes biodegradable materials are imminent for the skin-like outer layer, she believes eventually the entire robot body could decompose just as if it was flesh and blood. Their insides are still made mostly from metal and plastic - materials that are hard to dispose of.Nikos Tsagarakis, lead researcher on a humanoid robot project at the IIT, said that roboticists will have to move on from metal in order to build the next generation of robot.Their insides are still made mostly from metal and plastic - materials that are hard to dispose of. And if robots are to ever be truly ubiquitous, they also need to be easily disposed of once they reach the end of their useful life-span.."We are infusing any material with nano technology.Robots made from biodegradable material would certainly make them more human-like, and perhaps more easily accepted in the real-world.

By merging separate distinct materials at the nano level the scientists are creating new and novel materials that preserve the properties of the individual components, but exhibit characteristics that would not be possible individually. But, in a few year's time, I find it very feasible that all the robot can be biodegradable," she said. So going to alternative materials would be this advantage - it will help us to make lighter robots, more efficient and, finally, also recyclable," said Tsagarakis, who is developing the Walk-Man humanoid robot to operate human tools and interact with its environment in the same way a person would."I believe that the starting point would be to make part of the robot, like the outer part of the robot for example, with this biodegradable material. But researchers in Italy are developing 'smart materials' that could allow robots to be built from substances that will biodegrade when they've reached the end of their life-span