3D technology achieves success treating animals with cancer

A team of three Belgian vets have successfully removed a tumour from a dog’s skull using 3D printing, European veterinary network AniCura has announced.

In preparation for the operation to replace the diseased bone with a titanium plate, the animal’s skull was modelled and printed.

Indy, a 10-year-old shihtzu, had been sent to the AniCura veterinary clinic in Herkenrode, Limburg province.

The vets diagnosed multi-lobular osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, above his left eye.

“This serious disease required rapid treatment to give Indy a chance of survival,” said the clinic’s orthopaedic vet, Tom Volkaert.

The canine’s skull was then modelled on a scanner and 3D printed, which the clinic said “enabled better pre-operative planning and was also a great help during the operation.”

Using this method, the surgeons could also determine precisely the part of the bone to be removed and reconstruct the skull using a titanium plate.

The dog’s eye was then put back into place and attached to the implant with its muscles.

AniCura said that Indy has “recovered well” and has no clinical complaints.

“Even the eye, which had been partially pushed out of the socket by the growth of the tumour, has healed completely and Indy can see well again,” they added.

“This ground-breaking operation would have been unthinkable just a few years ago and demonstrates the progress and potential of innovative technologies such as CT [computed tomography enabling detailed images of the body] scanning and 3D printing in veterinary care.”