Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren boglebam here. In two thousand nine, a
Speaker 1: sea turtle suffered damage to her shell after being struck
Speaker 1: by a boat. The turtle, now known as Seymour spelled
Speaker 1: s e E m O r E, was sent to
Speaker 1: live out her life at Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium from
Speaker 1: a turtle hospital in Florida, but her injury caused what's
Speaker 1: been called positive buoyancy disorder, or more colloquially bubble butt syndrome,
Speaker 1: which traps air between her body and shell. It made
Speaker 1: it hard for her to dive, float, and swim. Enter
Speaker 1: the genius team of undergrads from University of Minnesota who
Speaker 1: printed a three D prosthesis called an exo shell to
Speaker 1: correct Seymour's buoyancy problem. Today, Seymour swims with her two
Speaker 1: pound backpack that's a little under a kilo, just like
Speaker 1: a regular sea turtle. Seymour's story is thanks to the
Speaker 1: miracle of three D printing, and it's becoming more common
Speaker 1: in veterinary medicine to repair injuries to animals, both domesticated
Speaker 1: and wild. These days, veterinarians and wildlife conservationists are Following
Speaker 1: the lead of physicians treating human patients by using three
Speaker 1: D printing to create prostheses for injuries to limbs, fins, beaks, bones,
Speaker 1: and yes shells. This technology is being used to create
Speaker 1: everything from prosthetic legs for kittens and puppies to replacement
Speaker 1: beaks for two cans, and while off the shelf, implants
Speaker 1: and prostheses are available and can be adapted. Often it's
Speaker 1: just as simple to create a custom made three D
Speaker 1: implant part or prosthesis. Just as in human medicine, veterinarians
Speaker 1: use technology like CT scans and mri I to create
Speaker 1: images of an animal's body. The scans provide physicians and
Speaker 1: conservationists with a three D image of what the damaged
Speaker 1: part looks like an exact representation of what the new
Speaker 1: part needs to look like. Three D printing is used
Speaker 1: for prototyping the damaged part and the replacement. The image
Speaker 1: creates a app that's uploaded into the computer controlling the printer.
Speaker 1: Following the map, the printer puts down layer after layer
Speaker 1: of material until the new part is formed. A variety
Speaker 1: of materials can be used for three D printing, including
Speaker 1: different types of plastics, ceramic, metals and even living cells.
Speaker 1: But just because an animal might seem like a potential
Speaker 1: candidate for a pros thesis doesn't mean it will get one.
Speaker 1: For example, size does matter. Very large or very small
Speaker 1: dogs are more difficult to fit. The residual limb also
Speaker 1: has to be healthy. The animals shouldn't have any issues
Speaker 1: with gait or range of motion, and animals with prostheses
Speaker 1: have to go through rehab just like their human counterparts,
Speaker 1: so they can build up their strength and learn how
Speaker 1: to use their new limb properly. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by Patty res Mussin and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: For more in this amounts of other individualized topics, visit
Speaker 1: our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. And for
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit thy heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: H