Sea Turtle Can Return To The Sea Due To 3D Printing

3D Printing has done a lot for people in the past few years, from creating 3D Iron Man Hands for children to creating apartment buildings. A group in Turkey, however, have found another use for it; helping a turtle return to the sea.

The turtle was found in the wild, considered almost lifeless by its rescuers are it was found to have a large hole near its month, possibly caused by an encounter with a propeller. With the damage done however it was unable to gather food, meaning it couldn’t survive out in the wild. The rescuers at Dalyan Iztuzu Pamukkale University Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center started to feed the turtle by hand. Once it started to regain its strength the researchers decided that they needed to find a way to get it back into its natural habitat.

Say Hello to 3D printing. BTech Innovation, a 3D printing service, agreed to help repair the turtles jaws with artificial prosthetics, similar to those now being used to support people. With help from surgeons and veterinarians, the group scanned in the turtles CT scans and began to design a replacement for the beak which had been broken off.

Using titanium, the beak was designed to withstand water and the high power that turtles use within their jaws. Once printed the new feature was airmailed to their latest patient and fitted, with rescuers hopeful that the turtle can return to the sea any day soon.

The greatest thing about 3D printing, with companies like BTech Innovation offering to help for free because of how, touched they were, is that it has un-told potential to help people. The ability to quickly and cheaply rebuild lost houses after natural disasters or even to replace limbs that have been lost. 3D printing is an idea of the future, with people quickly gathering around it for every reason we can imagine, how do you think 3D printing should or could be used in the near future?

Thank you Iinquisitr for providing us with this information.

Image Courtesy of BTech Innovation.