Ontario researchers use 3D-printing tech to replace part of dog’s skull
Researchers at an Ontario university have used 3D-printing technology to replace the majority of a dog’s cancer-ridden skull, a novel procedure they say marks a major advancement in veterinary medicine.
Michelle Oblak, a veterinary surgical oncologist with the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, said she believes the procedure is the first of its kind in North America and a substantive leap from one other known case.
“Our hope is this is something that could be more widely available on a broad scale,” Oblak said. “It went very well.”
Patches, the nine-year-old dachshund at the centre of the procedure, had a brain tumour the size of an orange that grew through her skull and would have been fatal if not treated, her owner said.