If you’re looking for a heartwarming story to end 2015 with, you might be pleased to learn that Derby the Husky mix has recently received a pair of upgraded 3D printed prosthetic limbs. For those unfamiliar with Derby’s situation, he is a dog that was born with underdeveloped front limbs meaning that getting around would be difficult, if not near impossible.
However thanks to the efforts of Tara Anderson and her team at 3D Systems, they developed a pair of 3D printed prosthetic limbs that helped Derby get around. 3D printing body parts isn’t new as we have seen in the past, but the problem with the first version of the limbs was that it forced Derby to walk with his body facing downwards, meaning that his back wasn’t straight which we can only imagine can’t be too comfortable.
Thanks to the upgrade, it seems that Derby can now walk more “normally”, or at least as far as prosthetic limbs are concerned. According to Anderson, this was more than just enlarging or increasing the height of the original design. Instead what they ended up with was a pair of prosthetic limbs that worked like an actual knee.
To achieve this they used a 3D printing method called Selective Laser Sintering where the end result is a limb that features give and take like a normal knee would. The result is a much more happier dog, as you can see in the video above. According to Derby’s adoptive owner Sherry Portanova, “Derby took to his new prosthetic very well. No different really in having them on than the old ones except it raised him to his proper height. He’s walking in a straight line and he’s sitting like a real dog sits, like he hasn’t really been able to do.”