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A Great Hornbill Survives Cancer with 3D Technology

  • Posted Apr 1, 2022 14:17 by Deka Nine
  • 1789
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INTERNATIONAL: A great hornbill has beaten cancer with the help of 3D technology and a medical team from Florida.

When veterinarians at ZooTampa first noticed a lesion - suspected to be squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer - on the casque of a great hornbill, known as Crescent, they knew they had to think creatively in order to save her.

Dr. Kendra Baker, Associate Veterinarian, "Frequently when this is diagnosed in hornbills, it is, unfortunately, a death sentence."

Dr. Baker found out that a great hornbill in Singapore had its beak replaced using 3D-printed technology and immediately got to work looking for experts in the U.S. who could help her do the same - including physicians who typically work on humans.

She said, "Most of the time when we approach human physicians they get very excited. They're like, 'ooh it's an animal!' And, you know, they really do want to help us, which is really exciting for us too that they kind of, you know, share our passion and really want to kind of participate in the care of these animals."

A private biomedical 3D laboratory designed a new custom 3D casque, as well as a 3D-printed surgical guide for surgeons on where they needed to remove the tumor. The surgeons used dental acrylic to seal the 3D-printed casque to the hornbill's beak before using titanium screws to permanently attach it.

Crescent, the 25-year-old hornbill who is three feet long (0.9 meters), recovered almost immediately from the medical procedure and is now thriving with her new beak.

She is the first great hornbill to get a 3D-printed prosthetic beak in the US, and only the second in the whole world, according to ZooTampa.


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