Derby The Dog Gets New Prosthetics

Prosthetic limbs are common for humans who are injured are born with some sort of deformity that limits their mobility and ability to live, work, and play. Prosthetics for animals and pets are becoming more and more common as well. One such pet is Derby the dog who got a new lease on life a while back with prosthetic paws that allowed him to walk and run again.

The problem with those original prosthetics was that they put Derby much lower to the ground than he would have been naturally with front prosthetics that left his rear much higher than his front. Derby now has new prosthetics that allows him to stand tall.

The prosthetics were created by 3D Systems and are designed to have a bit of flex to them as real knees would. The original prosthetics were 3D printed, but these new legs were made using selective laser sintering (SLS).

SLS uses heat to fuse tiny particles creating a 3D object. With his new legs attached via a harness, Derby is able to walk much like any other dog. It appears that the harness holds what there is of Derby's real front legs above the prosthetics. It's unclear how much, if any training of the dog was required to teach him to use the legs.

SOURCE: Engadget