Mar 29, 2025 Did someone say dogs?! It’s 3DHEALS’ veterinary 3D printing event, and we’ve had a blast learning from a fantastic panel of veterinary 3D experts. Our speakers are passionate about using 3D printing to get their veterinary patients up and running again. It’s been truly incredible to see some of the results they’ve achieved with their patients, and we’re happy to see how far the field has gone. Here’s a recap of what happened during our event, which you can now watch on-demand through 3DHEALS Courses.
Surgical planning is the key challenge in veterinary 3D printing
Our speakers are turning dreams into reality, and one of them is no stranger to turning his ideas into tangible solutions for veterinary patients using the power of computer-aided design (CAD) software. Bill Oxley, an orthopedic veterinary surgeon who founded Vet3D back in 2015, is focusing on how surgeons can harness CAD software not only to get the designs they want but also to achieve effective surgical planning. Oxley’s message for us was this: while it isn’t necessarily easy to create a model such as a surgical guide in CAD software, 3D surgical planning is the big challenge to overcome. He showed us that he’s been creating 3D-printed models since 2014, and, in many of his past cases, he’s achieved great accuracy in creating 3D-printed surgical guides, even though the prints might be seen as primitive by today’s standards. It’s instead the surgical planning process using CAD that he wants to help surgeons better utilize in their practice.
Oxley notes that deciding where and how to cut the bone during a surgical procedure using CAD software can be tricky. The challenge lies in performing 3D deformity assessments and analyzing the models to decide how to perform the surgery so that surgeons can achieve the best outcome possible for their patients. However, the rewards can be immense with just the right expertise in leveraging CAD for surgical planning. Oxley showed a dog named Rolo with an injured carpus and limb deformity that required the fusion of the joints. Without CAD and 3D-printed surgical guides, this surgery would have been complicated to plan and figure out how actually to cut and fuse the bones. Oxley demonstrated how they used CAD software to plan the surgery, including figuring out the right screw trajectories and designing a guide for pre-drilling holes, and making cuts that would allow for the easy positioning of a plate. They ultimately achieved a straight leg due to the pre-surgical planning stage, and the dog was able to heal quickly through the use of guides.
Watch another of Oxley’s cases below, where he dramatically changed the life of a Great Dane who had osteosarcoma using a custom plate:
3D printing is more than just purchasing CAD software and expecting the puzzle pieces to fall into place. Finding out how best to interact with these 3D technologies really seals the deal. For Oxley, consulting fellow surgeons by using 3D surgical planning to maximize the benefit for the patient is helping the veterinary field grow to new heights. If we want 3D technologies to succeed, we need to think about how we’re going to train people in a time-effective manner, how to make it easier for practitioners to integrate it in their existing workflow, and how we’ll provide support when people need help along the way. Oxley is one of those people who’s making that change by focusing on the people and veterinary patients involved, not just what comes out the printer.
Human vs. veterinary standards: the pros and cons
How can we keep pushing the boundaries of veterinary care? For Mateusz Pawlik, it isn’t just about creating more 3D-printed products but also the standards we uphold when we do it. Pawlik, co-founder of CABIOMEDE, believes that the production of veterinary 3D-printed implants should follow human medical device standards even if there aren’t laws for it. Pawlik notes that safety regulations found in human medicine, such as the requirements put forth by ISO, FDA, and MDR, are not present in veterinary medicine since the veterinary field is sometimes seen as more on the agricultural side rather than medical. He describes how his company follows the standards found in human medicine, such as performing biocompatibility testing, fatigue testing, and precision manufacturing. Rather than telling veterinary surgeons to use the product without any assurance of safety, companies who follow these standards can establish trust with their surgeons that the product was made with quality patient care in mind.
Of course, regulations come with their pros and cons. Without strict obligations, veterinary 3D companies don’t have to worry about the innovation process being slowed down. However, for Pawlik, it’s the integrity of the company and his commitment to doing the right thing even at further costs that can make a company stand out. Building strong relationships with veterinary clinicians is critical, especially since the 3D printing process involves the expertise of CAD engineers, printing technicians, materials researchers, and manufacturers — all of whom now become deeply interconnected with the patient’s care. If we want 3D printing to take on a larger role in veterinary medicine, we should consider how self-imposed validation and safety checks can help increase confidence among everyone involved, bringing people together to more frequently consider 3D printing as a solution and providing assurance to patients of successful outcomes in the long-term.
Imaging quality is what we need
Quality results for patients means giving it the best you’ve got from the very beginning. For Luca Manassero, that means capturing quality CT images for 3D printing workflows. Manassero, a DVM and now a PhD student in Veterinary Sciences at the University of Turin, points out that collaboration is an important part of this process and that it takes everyone — radiologists, surgeons, and engineers — to obtain the desired imaging results to get the job done right. Obtaining quality CT images is important for achieving good segmentation results, which will ultimately be used in the formation of 3D CAD models for designing patient-specific devices. That’s why it’s key for imaging technologists and specialists to be aware of how the images they take will impact downstream tasks. For example, artifacts in the CT images can be created when the patient moves from breathing which can make it harder for engineers and surgeons to design surgical guides down the road.
It also takes ingenuity in the veterinary field given the diversity of species that a clinic might encounter. In the clip below, Manassero shares some examples of the considerations imaging specialists must make when dealing with different patient anatomies to obtain the images desired.
Educating the next veterinary 3D specialists
As 3D printing technology evolves, the training of both experienced veterinary professionals and students will be crucial to keep 3D printing moving forward in this field. Manassero notes that from his perspective in Italy, 3D printing in veterinary education is mostly limited to a small batch of interested students. For Oxley, it’s the advanced levels in veterinary education where it makes sense for 3D printing to come up, especially for 3D printing’s utility in complex cases. For 3D printing to thrive in veterinary care, companies and educational institutions need to consider how we can make 3D printing more accessible while still being introduced at an appropriate time for students.
One such company that’s making 3D printing within reach for many is Materialise. Bradley Tumas, an Account Manager for Materialise, describes how the company creates end-to-end solutions for the 3D printing process, allowing users to perform automated segmentation with AI, generate 3D models, and design devices within their software. It goes without saying that this kind of CAD software is a powerful tool for engineers and clinicians who want to focus on creating life-changing devices for their patients rather than building their workflows from scratch. Moving forward, there’s an exciting avenue for 3D innovators to think about how they can contribute to bringing others into this space. How do we provide the necessary tools and training to not only teach others on how to use this technology but also pass along the experience that speakers such as Oxley have gained from understanding the problems and peculiarities of how to make surgical guides? What kinds of training can we make that are veterinary-specific and aware of the cases encountered in the clinic? And how can we make it easier for others to get started in 3D?
The future of veterinary 3D
The future of veterinary 3D is truly bright: Sinan Ulusan, a veterinary orthopedic surgeon and founder of Travmavet and Vimics, shared the variety of cases that his companies and collaborators have been able to reach in the veterinary field. Ulusan describes some of the incredible cases in the clip below and explains that he’s using CNC and additive manufacturing in harmony to create his products.
What is truly special about this speaker panel is the emphasis on collaboration in veterinary 3D printing. We’re venturing into the unknown of discovering how 3D printing can play a role in the veterinary field and tackling the challenges that come along the way. The innovators who will find success are bringing people from different backgrounds together — engineers, technologists, surgeons, researchers, regulatory experts, and more — to address the needs of veterinary medicine.
We hope to see you at our future events live to hear from all these different perspectives and engage in the conversation. Subscribe to 3DHEALS to stay up-to-date.
About the Author:
Peter Hsu is an editorial intern for 3DHEALS. He is currently an undergraduate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and studies bioengineering with a focus on cell and tissue engineering. He is also minoring in computer science with interests in artificial intelligence and image processing. Peter conducts research on using computer vision methods to analyze human tissue images and improving the robustness of machine learning workflows. He is interested in the use of AI to assist tissue engineering and bioprinting research for medical applications. He is passionate about science communication and leads STEM outreach lessons at schools in the central Illinois area.
Related Links:
Event Recap: Revolutionizing Pet Care With 3D
Event Recap: 3D Microfabrication
Event Recap: 3D Bioprinting Biofabricating Skin Components
Revolutionizing 3D-Printed Facial Titanium Implants Polishing
Comments