# Key Points from IRC Log

• A Chinese man built his own kidney dialysis machine using common kitchen tools, reducing treatment costs from £50 to £6 per session, demonstrating the potential of DIY medical technology to address healthcare affordability issues.

• Participants discussed biohacking approaches, distinguishing between improvement versus modification paradigms, and directed newcomers to resources like diyhpl.us/wiki/diybio/faq for understanding non-institutional biology research.

• Technical discussions covered sensor options for devices, comparing image sensors versus coil-based approaches with considerations about linearity, mechanical complexity, and design robustness.

• A high-speed book scanner capable of processing 250 pages per minute was shared (http://www.geekologie.com/2013/01/new-book-scanner-can-flip-and-scan-250-p.php), potentially valuable for rapid digitization of research materials.

• The OpenSpectrometer project (http://openspectrometer.com/) was mentioned as an ongoing open-source hardware development for spectroscopic analysis.

• Various transhumanist projects were referenced, including pipetting automation systems, RepRap-based tissue printing machines, and human cadaver preservation operations, highlighting the diverse technical interests of the community.

• The community discussed academic resource access, noting that while libgen.net was down, libgen.org remained operational as an alternative for accessing scientific literature.