3D Printing is the process of using special machinery to create physical objects by laying down material in succession. This story, that is from the Missourian, really impacts the printing industry positively by proving how 3D printing can contribute to opportunities like this and hopefully make a difference.
Tucker, a 5-year old Australian Shepherd, was born with various missing bones in his back right foot. He was sadly the last of his litter left for sale due to his disability. However, Kendra Warlow, adopted Tucker when he was eight months old and has been in love ever since. Tucker lives a very happy life with his adopted Australian Shepherd sibling, Indie but is on several medications, and Kendra was becoming concerned for his future; She had noticed Tucker’s foot problems began causing further issues with his back and hindquarter and decided that she wanted to do something about it.
Kendra is currently working on her Master’s Thesis at the University of Missouri, and conveniently, came across a printing club experimenting with 3D printers in the universities library one day. After confronting them, she proposed that the team of 7 create a prosthetic for her dog, and fortunately, they agreed. For that next year, the team worked with Tucker and Kendra to develop an efficient prosthetic leg that will hopefully improve Tucker’s stability and make his life a lot easier.
The process was a big challenge for the universities printing club, but the team were determined to help out Tucker. They first had to experiment with materials to find the most efficient one; This resulted in the agreement of using PLA (polylactic acid), as the team felt it was the easiest to work with. Tucker then had a cast put on his leg so the three new models could be designed and created using the cast and Autodesk Meshmaker (a free software designed to manipulate files for 3D printing). The club and Kendra both were surprised at how calm Tucker was during that procedure.
The team are still developing Tucker’s new foot. However, he is happy using his “house slipper”, as the team like to call it, in the meantime. The “house slipper” is the clubs most recent idea for Tucker to have a temporary and stable prototype. They cut off the bottom of the prosthetic leg and replaced it with a rubber ball for easier movement. Kendra joyfully reports that Tucker is now putting more weight on his foot than he ever has before.
Tucker is just one of the many dogs that are lucky enough to have their lives changed by 3D printing. There are a number of dogs around the world that have lost a significant part of there body due to birth defects, accidents and illnesses and we wish them the best of luck and hopefully, they will also their lives turned around by the printing industry.