· 3D Hardware
· 3D Software
· 3D Video
· 3D TV and Movies
· 3D Art
· 3D Picture of the Day
· 3D Modeling
· 3D Printing
· Reviews
· Gaming
· How To
· News
· Everything Else
· Off Topic
· Around the Web
· Virtual Reality
Posted by: Beth Snyder on: 03/10/2016 04:28 AM
Gigi is a blue and gold macaw from Brazil, where she was living in captivity. Something happened to her beak and it was severely damaged, leaving her unable to eat effectively and threatening her life. Luckily for her, the Animal Care Center Ipiranga in São Paulo teamed up with facial reconstruction specialist Cicero Moraes and veterinary dentist Paul Miamoto to make her a new beak out of titanium.
Why titanium? A bird's beak is incredibly strong, and the bigger the bird the stronger the beak. A blue and gold macaw like Gigi can exert up to 2000 pounds pressure with its beak! Titanium was clearly the only answer, and since it's used in human medical procedures (I have a few titanium screws and plates myself) it was a good choice. They even jazzed it up a little, using screws that look sort of like rhinestones to attach the titanium beak to Gigi's underlying beak structure. Because what girl doesn't like a little bling, especially one with showy colours like a macaw?
First, they created a 3D design of Gigi's original beak using facial reconstruction. Then the actual titanium beak was manufactured by the Renato Archer Technology and Information Center (CTI). From there, Gigi had to undergo surgery to install her new beak. After a few days' recovery, she was eating normally with no apparent ill effects.
Gigi will not, however, be released into the wild. Since she's lived her entire life in captivity she most likely wouldn't be able to make it on her own, so the Animal Care Center is seeking individuals or zoos that might be willing to give her a forever home. No matter where she ends up, Gigi and her new beautiful beak are sure to be envied by all the other birds!
Source: Damn Geeky
Why titanium? A bird's beak is incredibly strong, and the bigger the bird the stronger the beak. A blue and gold macaw like Gigi can exert up to 2000 pounds pressure with its beak! Titanium was clearly the only answer, and since it's used in human medical procedures (I have a few titanium screws and plates myself) it was a good choice. They even jazzed it up a little, using screws that look sort of like rhinestones to attach the titanium beak to Gigi's underlying beak structure. Because what girl doesn't like a little bling, especially one with showy colours like a macaw?First, they created a 3D design of Gigi's original beak using facial reconstruction. Then the actual titanium beak was manufactured by the Renato Archer Technology and Information Center (CTI). From there, Gigi had to undergo surgery to install her new beak. After a few days' recovery, she was eating normally with no apparent ill effects.
Gigi will not, however, be released into the wild. Since she's lived her entire life in captivity she most likely wouldn't be able to make it on her own, so the Animal Care Center is seeking individuals or zoos that might be willing to give her a forever home. No matter where she ends up, Gigi and her new beautiful beak are sure to be envied by all the other birds!
Source: Damn Geeky
Comments
Related Stories
Six 3D printers from 400 to 2500 Euros reviewed @ Hardware.info Hardware.info takes an extensive look at 6 models of 3D Printers based on performance and price to show what may fit your needs and budget. 3D printers are slowly becoming more mainstream. Over the ...
3D Printing Makes Injections Comfortably Numb Throughout the course of your life, you're going to end up getting any number of injections, and no matter how stoic you are they always hurt at least a little. Comfortably Numb is a new 3D printed g...
Animals Benefit From 3D Printing, Too The medical field has benefited from 3D printing in ways that are sometimes hard to imagine, but the advances in technology are not limited to helping humans... Animals can reap the benefits as well. ...
Animals Rejoice! 3D Printed Skin to be Used for Testing Makeup New makeup formulas require testing to ensure they won't cause rashes or worse, but testing on animals is not a good option for a wide variety of reasons. L'Oreal is now using 3D printing technology...
3D Printed Living Tissue Might Be Closer Than You Think 3D printing is increasingly popular for many items, but what they all have in common is being made of non-biological materials. The folks at BioBots are looking to change that, and have begun experime...
Retouch3D Fixes 3D Printing Mistakes Not all 3D printers turn out perfect products, but Retouch3D offers a way to fix those annoying little glitches that can ruin a finished object....
3D Printing Can Change a Life Not only is 3D printing changing the way we conduct our everyday lives, it is making a world of difference for people such as Faith, who just received her custom-3D-printed cool new pink and purple ar...
3D Printing Helps Violet Get a New Face 2 year old Violet Pietrok was born with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_cleftTessier cleft which left he several deformed. ...
Cheesy 3D Printing Fun You've seen 3D printers that print chocolate or other foods, right? Now there's a "printer" that uses Easy Cheese, and it's fabulous. ...
3d Printing with DAP silicon? Yup, you can do that. The folks over at Structur3d Printing are starting up a video blog called GET PAST3D. In the first episode they show you how to get started tweaking your printer to use silicon to make a snazzy lookin...