Three-dimensional printing has a wide range of applications and one field advancing dramatically with the help of 3D printing is medical science and healthcare. We wrote in a previous blog, about how they successfully reconstructed a motorcycle crash victims face with printed parts.
Just as medics and surgeons all over the world are using these machines to print life-saving devices to improve patient care and services, so are veterinarians. In the United States, three out of five people own a pet, and with a population of 317,000,000 people you can only imagine the number of pets!
Today we will have a look at ways 3D printing has been used in the treatment of our beloved furry friends to better the quality of their lives.
First up is a pooch from Tucson, Arizona. Jack the Labrador-mix was a rescue dog and when he arrived at the shelter as a pup he had sustained significant damage to his hind legs. After his adoption to a new owners, they sadly watched him struggle around. It was difficult for him to balance on his front paws. He ended up dragging his hindquarters around.
Seeing their pooch struggling to move around, Jacks owners’ sought out a program at North Carolina University that involved fitting animals with prosthetic 3D printed limbs. After extensive time in surgery, Jack was fitted with two titanium feet that were attached to the bone on his hind legs enabling him to get mobile and move around with more ease and improving his standard of life.
The news today is that Jack is a happy dog and another success story the endless possibilities of 3d printing. Medical communities are looking to it for treatment of humans and animals to improve the quality of life.
In conclusion, this use of new gen printing technology is pioneering and sharing countless cases where people’s lives have been improved for the better. With land mine victims in Africa getting new artificial limbs, to babies having a 3D printed tracheal implant to help in aiding them to breathe, three-dimensional printing technology has played a major part in making this happen. The evidence is there to see. It is improving healthcare and offering better ways of treatment to those who need it most.
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