Mexican researchers adjust 3D printed prosthetic leg to six-year-old dog

A six-year-old dog named Romina, who was injured in a lawnmower accident, is fitted with an articulated prosthetic leg made with 3D printing technology.

Specialists at the Universidad del Valle de Mexico’s Veterinary Hospital (UVM) worked for six months designing the country’s first articulated leg with joints that mimic the natural movement of the Whippet’s leg.

Dr. Santiago Garcia, UVM’s great species coordinator and specialist in prosthetics, said that being able to print out the model in 3D made the process easier and enabled him to adjust it quickly.

Romina lost her leg in a accident (Photo: oto EE Nelly Toche / El Economista)

“When we have the 3D model of the patient’s limb, we are able to adjust the size of the piece to the patient’s specific needs in most accurate way, in terms of millimeters,” he explained.

The team hopes to develop prophetic limbs for other animals such as turtles and crocodiles.

Mexican researchers fit dog with 3D printed prosthetic leg (Photo: Reuters)

Dr. Santiago explained that the advantage of using three-dimensional technology is that, if a dog anywhere in the world has a problem similar to Romina’s, a veterinarian can contact this group of researchers in Mexico, they can send him a digital archive that can be downloaded and printed anywhere in the world, “this makes the whole process more economical, fast and moldable to any individual,” he concluded.