Rapid prototyping for treatment of canine limb deformities

This report describes Rapid Prototyping (RP) -aided assessment and preoperative planning for treatment of bilateral multifocal pelvic limb deformities in a 1 year old German Shepherd dog. Computed tomography (CT) scans were acquired on a General Electric CT scanner and converted to solid models using Mimics software from Materialise. Stereolithography patterns were prototyped using QuickCast build style on a SLA-190. Room temperature vulcanized silicone molds were constructed and three sets of polyurethane patterns were cast for presurgical planning and rehearsal. The paper compares traditional osteotomy planning procedures using only radiographs and 2D CT images to planning with full-scale physical biomodels. The biomodels had a clearly beneficial impact on the accuracy of surgery and positively influenced the clinical outcome.