A South Carolina tech company has successfully outfitted Derby the dog with 3D printed prosthetics, allowing him to run down the street for the first time ever. Derby couldn’t be happier and his adopted parents couldn’t be more amazed at the transformation.
“He runs with Sherri and I every day, at least two to three miles,” said Dom Portanova. “When I saw him sprinting like that on his new legs it was just amazing.”
Derby was born with a congenital deformity characterized by small forearms and no front paws. 3D Systems designed and built the 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 designers added in comfortable cups of rubber and rigid spokes to the base. Ready in a few hours, the prosthetics were shipped to Derby for testing. The design team started with short prosthetics, to help him adjust, but now are building longer and longer ones until they fit his frame.
Through the power of 3D, Derby is now able to run alongside, and sometimes past, his newly adoptive owners.
(WATCH the inspiring video below)
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