Article content continued

Dymeck said a small bump that Patches had on her head for years began growing aggressively some months ago. Her vet pointed her to Cornell University, famed for its veterinary program, and a vet there reached out to Oblak.

The Guelph researcher has been studying using 3D-printing technology — also known as rapid prototyping technology — for dogs.

Previously, Oblak said, for a dog like Patches, a tumour and part of the skull would be removed in surgery and then, while the animal was still under, a surgeon would fit a titanium mesh in place.

It was an imprecise, costly and lengthy procedure, she said.

Photo by Handout via Canadian Press

A new kind of procedure, in which a 3D printer creates a custom-made titanium skull cap for a dog, is much better, Oblak said.

Patches was the perfect candidate, the researcher said. The dog needed about 70 per cent of her skull removed and replaced. Veterinarians in the U.K. have performed a similar surgery, but it was on a significantly smaller scale, Oblak said.

Patches’ owner said she had a tough time deciding whether to have her pet be at the centre of the research endeavour, but eventually went ahead.

“They felt she could recover from this,” Dymeck said. “And to be part of cancer research was a big thing for me — if they can learn something from animals to help humans, that’s pretty important.”

The new method began with a CT scan taking an image of Patches’ head and tumour, Oblak said.

Using several different software programs on that image, Oblak and her team digitally cut out the tumour and disease-ridden parts of the dog’s skull. They then mapped out where a 3D-printed replacement would fit and what it would look like, complete with the location of holes for screws to hold it in place.