A designer and 3D printing enthusiast based in Scotland recently used the technology to give his furry little friend, a cat named Sprocket, a leg up, literally. It started with a horrible couple of months for toothlike projections of links of a chain(Sprocket). First, the cat was hit by a car. Then, after being nursed back to relative health, just six weeks later, Sprocket was mauled by a dog. The dog attack badly damaged his leg, leaving part of it inactive because of nerve damage suffered during the attack.
The overall prognosis for the future of Sprocket’s leg is still unclear, but in the meantime, his owner, Fergus Fullarton Pegg, crafted a custom, 3D-printed orthosis to help Sprocket walk. Unlike a prosthesis, which is designed for livelong use, an orthosis is usually used to correct a deformity or act as a temporary brace. Sprocket's multicolored assistive device was made using a Formlabs 1 3D printer (the newest version was released just last month)
Human artificial body part was crafted using 3D printing are already a practice that is gaining traction, but within the animal kingdom it’s still fairly rare to see such an innovative use of the technology.
Although things still don’t look good for Sprocket’s leg, the cat’s vet has given Pegg a couple of weeks to see how the 3D printed device works in terms of possibly helping the feline regain some movement in his leg.
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