How Can 3-D Printing Help Save Animals?

Prostheses for humans are already in use, so why not for other animals? Learn how veterinarians are using 3-D printed limbs, fins, beaks, bones, and shells to help injured animals in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey
brain Stuff Lauren boglebam here. In two thousand nine, a
sea turtle suffered damage to her shell after being struck
by a boat. The turtle, now known as Seymour spelled
s e E m O r E, was sent to
live out her life at Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium from

(00:22):
a turtle hospital in Florida, but her injury caused what's
been called positive buoyancy disorder, or more colloquially bubble butt syndrome,
which traps air between her body and shell. It made
it hard for her to dive, float, and swim. Enter
the genius team of undergrads from University of Minnesota who
printed a three D prosthesis called an exo shell to

(00:46):
correct Seymour's buoyancy problem. Today, Seymour swims with her two
pound backpack that's a little under a kilo, just like
a regular sea turtle. Seymour's story is thanks to the
miracle of three D printing, and it's becoming more common
in veterinary medicine to repair injuries to animals, both domesticated
and wild. These days, veterinarians and wildlife conservationists are Following

(01:08):
the lead of physicians treating human patients by using three
D printing to create prostheses for injuries to limbs, fins, beaks, bones,
and yes shells. This technology is being used to create
everything from prosthetic legs for kittens and puppies to replacement
beaks for two cans, and while off the shelf, implants
and prostheses are available and can be adapted. Often it's

(01:31):
just as simple to create a custom made three D
implant part or prosthesis. Just as in human medicine, veterinarians
use technology like CT scans and mri I to create
images of an animal's body. The scans provide physicians and
conservationists with a three D image of what the damaged
part looks like an exact representation of what the new

(01:51):
part needs to look like. Three D printing is used
for prototyping the damaged part and the replacement. The image
creates a app that's uploaded into the computer controlling the printer.
Following the map, the printer puts down layer after layer
of material until the new part is formed. A variety
of materials can be used for three D printing, including

(02:11):
different types of plastics, ceramic, metals and even living cells.
But just because an animal might seem like a potential
candidate for a pros thesis doesn't mean it will get one.
For example, size does matter. Very large or very small
dogs are more difficult to fit. The residual limb also
has to be healthy. The animals shouldn't have any issues
with gait or range of motion, and animals with prostheses

(02:34):
have to go through rehab just like their human counterparts,
so they can build up their strength and learn how
to use their new limb properly. Today's episode was written
by Patty res Mussin and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain
Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works.
For more in this amounts of other individualized topics, visit
our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And for

(02:57):
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