Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
A sea turtle that was wounded by a boat’s propeller will soon be able to head back into the water after receiving a 3D-printed prosthetic beak. This is thanks to the efforts of animal rescue workers and an additive manufacturing company, various media outlets are reporting.
According to Engadget, the creature was found nearly lifeless by Turkish rescue personnel after having a large chunk of its snout shaved off in the accident. Those workers nursed the turtle back to health by hand-feeding it, and contacted 3D printing service provider BTech Innovation to see if the company could create a beak that would help it return to the wild.
BTech took CT scans of the turtle, and then used those images to create a new beak for the wounded reptile. They first used software to recreate its upper and lower jaws, and then printed out the design using medical-grade titanium that was attached surgically to the turtle.
Credit: Muhabbete Gel/Youtube
More heartwarming tales
The procedure itself was “arduous,” according to 3D Printing Industry, but resulted in the first-ever successful implant of a 3D-printed turtle jaw. The creature is currently recovering from the operation and is receiving antibiotics, the website said, but both doctors and representatives from BTech have already reportedly seen the patient successfully move its jaw.
While Engadget said that the prosthetic “makes the reptile look like it has a future as a badass pizza-loving mutant,” 3D Printing Industry called it a “heart-warming” story and said that it was “among the most touching applications” of additive manufacturing technology to date.
The turtle is not the only creature to have benefited from such advances, however. In March, a tortoise suffering from pyramiding (which means that her shell has thick, pyramid-like growths due to poor nutrition) was given a red-colored, 3D-printed prosthesis courtesy of Roger Henry, a Colorado Technical University student who spent more than 600 hours working on it.
Similarly, back in 2013, a duckling that was born with a backwards foot was outfitted with a 3D-printed prosthetic thanks to the folks at Feathered Angels Waterfowl Sanctuary and NovaCopy, a Nashville-based additive manufacturing firm. The company used the foot of the duck’s sibling to create a plastic model of a replacement foot for the injured creature, then adapted it into a lighter, easier-to-use silicone sheath that slipped over the damaged limb.
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