WASHINGTON — A dog with no front paws learned to run with the help of a 3-D printer.
A promotional video for 3D Systems tells the story of how the company’s 3-D-printed prosthetics allowed Derby, a disabled dog, to run upright for the first time.
Derby was born with a congenital deformity characterized by small forearms and no front paws. Because of this, Derby could only move around on soft indoor surfaces.
3D Systems’ Tara Anderson, who fostered Derby, thought she could give the pup the freedom he craved.
“The beauty of 3-D printing is that if the design needs to be adjusted, we don’t have to wait for time-consuming and expensive traditional manufacturing processes, we can simply print out a new set,” Vice President of Product and Channel Management, 3DS Buddy Byrum said in a news release.
“The dovetailing of 3-D scanning and design with the ProJet 5500X multi-material 3-D printing allowed for the creation of complete prosthetics printed in a single build, custom-fit to Derby.”
With his new legs, Derby can run with — and even past — his newly adoptive owners, Sherri and Dom Portanova.
“He runs with Sherri and I every day, at least two to three miles,” Dom Portanova said in a news release. “When I saw him sprinting like that on his new legs it was just amazing.”
Watch a video about Derby and his new prosthetics:
Follow @WTOP and @WTOPtech on Twitter and and WTOP on Facebook.