Disabled after a serious accident, a sea turtle was saved thanks to a prosthesis made by a 3D printer. A first for animals.
Increasingly, 3D printing seems to be an effective way to save lives. Take the example of this sea turtle found in Turkey. Rescued dying and with a jawbone ragged from a collision with a ship’s propeller, Akut-3, as she was named by her saviors, was saved with this technology. The impressive video footage shows the turtle in great shape today.
Half of its mouth, on the other hand, is now occupied by a three-dimensional printed titanium prosthesis. This is the first time that such an operation has been performed on an animal.
Rescued after an accident at sea
Although cared for by the academics who had taken it in, the turtle reportedly struggled to feed because of its severe injuries. It was then out of the question to return to the open sea, on pain of death for the animal. This is where the BTech company came into action which, thanks to numerous scans carried out on Akut-3, was able to create this small metal prosthesis supposed to replace its lower and upper jaws.
Thanks to it, the turtle, which belongs to an endangered species, will be able to lead a “normal” life.
According to academics, Akut-3’s recovery is going very well. So much so that a return to its natural environment is possible in the coming weeks. Currently, the turtle is being treated with antibiotics and is slowly recovering from the surgery which was very heavy for her.
A technology already used for humans
If this intervention is a first in animals, this method had on the other hand already been used in humans. Over a year ago, Stephen Power, a young British man injured after a motorcycle accident, had reconstructive surgery on his face. A titanium implant was then produced using a 3D printer and, after an operation which was also successful, the patient was able to find his original face.
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