HOLLY THE HORSE BEATS LAMINITIS WITH 3D PRINTING .

Holly, a ten-year-old mare in Australia, suffered from laminitis, a crippling disease that is common among horses, ponies, and donkeys. Laminitis affects the hooves of these animals and Holly had been suffering from it for three years. The disease causes pain and inflammation between the hoof and bone (an attachment similar to that of our finger and nail) and if unattended, could have left Holly unable to walk. Her vet and farrier, Luke Wells-Smith from the Equine Podiatry and Lameness Centre, had heard of the work CSIRO (Australia’s national science agency) had done with a racehorse, aptly named “Titanium Prints”, using 3D printed titanium horse-shoes. CSIRO hadn’t previously used 3D printing to rehabilitate lame horses, but, with Holly, they had their first opportunity. Collaborating with horse podiatrists, they 3D scanned and designed a shoe that was a perfect fit for Holly’s hoof and 3D printed it in titanium. The custom shoe, a first of its kind ‘horse-thotic’ that can be made on-demand in less than a day, would equally redistribute the weight and stress on the hoof, encourage it to heal and give Holly a chance to recover. Story from 3dprintingindustry.com