**Case of BABY**

The first patient Baby, is a 3-year old Yorkshire Terrier. He was admitted in December 2009 presenting a radius-cubital diaphysal oblicuous fracture with severe loss of radiographic density due to osteoporosis and disuse of the leg in question. If the X-ray images of healthy and injured leg are compared (Figure 17), it is evident that a 20-25% of radius-cubital length

Additive Manufacturing Solutions for Improved Medical Implants 167

Argos is an 8-month Bordeaux Mastiff of 50kg. He was diagnosed a bilateral hip dysplasia with grade I patella luxation in the right knee. Initially, the surgeon performed a triple pelvis osteotomy using a standard commercial plate. Only 3 days after the surgical intervention, during the first control, a loosening of fixation screws was detected. The proposed measure was to increase the size of the screws from M3.5 to M4.5 (Figure 19).

Fig. 19. X-rays after implanting the commercial plate: loose screws after the first intervention (left) and new bigger screws after the second intervention (right) (Courtesy of CIMA and

Fig. 20. From left to right: new customized design; plate after being built and finished and

In order to prevent risks of screw loosening, the surgeon sought for a more feasible solution for the left hip side. Due to previous experience with customized plates, the surgeon treated left hip dysplasia with a customized plate made on EBM (Figure 20). As expected, the first revision revealed that the screws on the right hip (commercial plate) started to migrate again while the screws on the left hip (customized plate) stood as tight as after the intervention. It

X-rays after the intervention (Courtesy of CIMA and FAUNA).

**Case of ARGOS** 

FAUNA).

had been lost. This was a challenging experimental case with few chances of successful outcome. Bearing in mind that there wasn't any commercially available plate, of this size and capable of being adapted to the damaged zone, the surgeon and CIMA researchers decided to design a customized titanium plate.

Fig. 17. From left to right: X-ray of the fracture suffered by Baby; customized CAD design of the plate and the plate as built on EBM and finished. (Courtesy of CIMA, University of Vigo and Veterinary Clinic FAUNA www.clinicafauna.es).

Figure 18 shows the outcome of the surgical intervention which took place in February 2010. The surgeon decided to apply an arthrodesis with the aim of preserving the leg and recover its functionality. Fifteen days after the intervention, Baby was submitted to a control of mobility and use of the leg, an almost normal mobility was observed. In addition, Baby's owner reported that, the dog recovered its normal impulses to jump and run, even after much time without being able to walk.

Fig. 18. From left to right: X-rays of Baby after the plate has been implanted and Baby leaning on its injured leg (Courtesy of CIMA and FAUNA).
