Cost: 18,000 credits/45,000 platinum

Availability: ILLEGAL

Cloning and growing organs for those needing transplants has become a viable practice in the Core, but Blastomeres - a recent Newtech creation - could make this practice obsolete. Designed to be acceptable by any human body, the synthetic organs could eliminate the time needed to grow a cloned organ. Blastomeres are longer-lasting and are more durable than normal human organs, potentially improving the body and increasing the lifespan of the recipient. Needless to say, they are extraordinarily expensive and, since they are still undergoing testing, they are not yet available to the public.

CRYO CHAMBER

Cost: 1,300 credits/3,250 platinum

Availability: ILLEGAL

Designed originally to put patients in stasis until they could be properly treated (or a cloned organ can be grown), cryogenic freezing chambers have a number of other uses. Slavers sometimes transport their victim in cryo, though this is expensive and can pose a problem if the people handling the cryo unit don't know how to use it properly. Putting a body in a cryo requires giving the person a carefully measured set of injections, depending on how long the stasis is supposed to last. Removing the person from cryo requires a careful "warm-up" procedure. Not following these procedures doesn't necessarily mean that the subject will die, but this can happen if the user bungles it badly.

DERMAL MENDER

Cost: 800 credits/2,000 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

Another fancy medical innovation, this is for those who don't like stitches and can pay to avoid scarring. Through a combination of regenerative stimulation and the application of artificial skin, the dermal mender can close almost any wound in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, while the mender works well for tissue bond (don't fiddle with it and it should be good as new in a few days), the dermal mender can't fix bone, cartilage, or organs. It'll patch up your skin (an maybe even help put an ear or a nose back on, at least partially), but that's it. After surgery, the dermal mender can close the incision and prevent infection.

DOCTOR'S BAG

Cost: 27.4 credits/69 platinum

Availability: Rim Worlds

A collection of basic medicines, antibiotics, scalpels, extractors, etc. Everything a doctor needs to perform minimally in house-call environments, though far from enough to treat everything he might encounter. Out on the Rim this may be the best there is.

DOCTOR'S BAG (MEDACAD)

Cost: 210 credits/525 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

A doctor who graduates from one of the major Medical Academies (on Osiris, Londinium, or Sihnon) will almost certainly have one of these. Technically, they are available to any licensed practitioner in the Core (as are most medical supplies, if the buyer can pay), but that means that the person must have attended one of the major MadAcads or has his training certified by one, which is no mean feat. These more advanced doctor's kits include the best in portable instrumentation, the latest in commonly needed medicines (though in small amounts), and so forth.

FIRST-AID KIT

Cost: 0.6 credits/2 platinum

Availability: Everywhere

A standard first-aid kit containing several pain killers, weaves, smelling salts and other minor but useful items.

IMMUNIZATION PACKET

Cost: 3 credits/7 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

These little foil packets contain several hypos of medicine and a couple of chewable tablets. Using a packet will help prevent the user from being infected by almost any known disease. The effects last for only about 48 hours.

MEDCOMP

Cost: 312 credits/780 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

While a bit big to carry by hand (being a little bigger than a Cortex terminal), the medcomp combines most necessary medical scanners with a set of diagnostic progs. Most of the sensors operate via a plastic-cased finger sleeve attached to the medcomp by a wire; someone hooked up can have his heart rate, body temperature, blood chem levels, and so forth monitored by the computer.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES, EMERGENCY

Cost: 110 credits/275 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

The doctor who pays the monthly cost for keeping on hand should be equipped to deal with most major medical situations he could reasonably expect to encounter (serious gunshot wounds, major infections, massive blood loss, etc.). Constant use may require that the supply be restocked more often than once a month.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES, STANDARD

Cost: 46 credits/115 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

Paying the monthly cost to keep an infirmary stocked with the basics allows the doc to treat most common or mild problems quite reliably. Such as a cold or a bullet to the leg.

OPERATING THEATRE, MODULAR

Cost: 346 credits/865 platinum

Availability: Core Worlds

Developed during the war so that base camp hospitals could be set up quickly almost anywhere, a Modular Operating Theatre equipped with a MedComp and standard and emergency medical supplies counts as Superior Supplies/Ambulance Conditions for first-aid and surgery purposes. Since many ships were equipped with them during the war, most ships use a similar model for their infirmary.