3D Systems has announced that it has successfully outfitted Derby the dog with 3D printed prosthetics, allowing him to run down the street for the first time ever.
Derby was born with a congenital deformity characterized by small forearms and no front paws. While always cheerful, Derby was, until now, only able to get around on soft surfaces. Hard surfaces, like sidewalks, cause severe abrasions on his front extremities.
Having fostered Derby through the dog rescue group Peace and Paws in Hillsborough, N.H., Tara Anderson decided to help. Tara, as a 3D Systems employee, knew that 3D printing afforded an unmatched level of design freedom, functionality and speed. Using 3D technology, she knew it would be possible to rapidly design and manufacture prosthetics customized to Derby’s morphology.
Marshaling help from Derrick Campana, a certified Orthotist at Animal Ortho Care in Chantilly, VA, and 3DS designers, Kevin Atkins and Dave DiPinto, data of Derby’s forearms and 3D scan data of a cup design, created by Campana, were used to create the 3D design. The team utilized Geomagic Freeform, 3DS’ digital sculpting platform, which allowed them to create perfect organic shapes and smooth curves for Derby’s shape.
The ProJet 5500X delivers multi-material 3D printing in a single build, so Tara and the designers could build complete prosthetics with comfortable cups in rubber and rigid spokes and base. Ready in a few hours, the prosthetics were shipped to Derby for testing.
Read more at ENGINEERING.com
