Let’s shell-ebrate, science!
A team of specialists in Brazil has designed the world’s first prosthetic 3D-printed shell for a tortoise who lost hers during a forest fire.
The tortoise, named Freddy, was lucky enough to survive a forest fire, but lost 85 percent of her shell due to severe burns. After surviving without food for 45 days and fighting off two cases of pneumonia, the tortoise has been given a second chance at life thanks to science.
Rodrigo Rabello, who found the badly burned tortoise, named her Freddy after the fire-damaged Freddy Krueger character from Nightmare on Elm Street. Rabello is part of a volunteer group in Sao Paulo, Brazil, called the “Animal Avengers,” who specialize in 3D reconstruction. The team consists of four veterinarians, a dental surgeon, and a 3D printing designer. The volunteer group have previously provided their services to reconstruct beaks for toucans, parrots, and a goose.
When they found Freddy, the volunteers wanted to design a 3D shell for the tortoise. So they embarked on constructing the world’s first 3D printed shell for the animal using image data from healthy tortoise shells and their own personal experience.
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They constructed the shell from a corn-based plastic material. Since it consists of four individual pieces, the shell had to be assembled during surgery last summer to create the full protective shell. Everything went to plan and the surgery was a success, allowing Freddy full mobility and protection.
However, the team realized once completed that they were left with one last problem; Freddy’s new shell didn’t look authentic.
They decided to seek the help of Brazilian artists, Yuri Caldera, who painted the 3D-constructed shell to make it look more authentic. Caldera hand-painted the shell with stunning detail, which restored a real tortoise look to Freddy.
Once completed, Freddy had a brand new shell, hand-painted, and she looked like a tortoise again. According to 9News, Freddy is now living in the care of Rabello.
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