Queensland start-up to 3D print limb of sickly border collie
Ziggy, a border collie that was born with a deformed front leg, was scheduled to be operated on to fit a 3D replica of its bones in its affected leg in June. After several delays due to technical issues, the surgery can now go ahead.
Ziggy belongs to veterinary students at the University of Queensland. The veterinary clinic couldn't operate until 3D replicas of the bones in Ziggy's affected leg were made, so they turned to a resident of River City Labs and the founder of an as-yet-unnamed 3D printing start-up, Don McGuinness.
"They had 3D scans of the dog's leg, but in order to fabricate a missing piece, they were going to staple into his leg to make it complete. They needed a 3D physical representation so they could fabricate the piece in advance.
"When they start cutting him up, they have to have the piece to put in straight away. So they were casting around for where they could get this 3D printing job done, called and asked me if I could do the job," McGuinness told Startup Smart.
However, due to some unnamed "issues", the dog was unable to get his operation. McGuinness told ARN in June that informed him the operation could not commence yet.
"It seems that Ziggy the dog didn't get his operation after all. The owner informs me the university had issues. I don't know what this means, and I can't speculate on the exact nature of the difficulties that have arisen," he said in early July.
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But McGuinness recently contacted ARN with the update that Ziggy could soon be getting his operation done.
"I have just received a reply from the university veterinary department regarding the difficulties surrounding the operation on Ziggy the dog's leg. It raised more questions than it answered but the good news is that he will be getting his operation at some point in the near future.
"I can't say too much at this stage for risk of further compromise," he added.
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More to follow.
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