Derby the dog has a birth defect that renders his front legs mostly useless. After his original owners surrendered him, animal-rescue organization Peace and Paws took him in, and that’s where he caught the attention of Tara Anderson.
Anderson is the director of CJP product management for 3D Systems, a company that specializes in 3-D printing and prototyping, and when a cart didn’t work well enough for the dog’s needs, Derby received some custom-made, 3D-printed prosthetics. The team decided that spring-like “running man” limbs would get stuck in the ground, so Derby’s new legs are rounded for maximum mobility and comfort.
“The great thing about using 3D technology in Derby’s case is having these images on file on a computer,” Animal Ortho Care’s Derrick Campana said. “And being able to print them is a lot quicker than having to hand-sculpt every single mold and rebuild these braces five or 10 times.”
You can see the whole story in the video below.
