Properly beaked: The sea turtle after repairs. Image credit: BTech Innovation
By now you’re familiar with 3D printing – the process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. It’s being used for everything from creating prototype packaging to surgical tools – and now, to create a new beak for an injured sea turtle.
In Turkey, animal rescuers found a sea turtle that had been seriously injured by a boat propeller at sea. The turtle had a large part of its snout shaved off, including part of his beak. Unable to eat, the turtle was barely moving and nearly dead.
Once rescued, the turtle had to be hand-fed back to relatively good health, but it would never be able to survive in the wild on its own. That’s where BTech Innovation came in.
After a CT scan to precisely measure the sea turtle’s dimensions, BTech Innovation recreated the reptile’s upper and lower jaws. Next, a new beak was designed using medical-grade titanium, then the beak was surgically attached to the turtle’s head.
Once it’s done recovering, the rescuers plan to release back to the ocean to live a normal turtley life.
Link: BTech Innovation (Facebook)