Apr 1, 2009 7:00 pm US/Central
New York Dog Gets Artificial Titanium Leg
New, High-Tech Prosthetic Fused To Right Hind Leg Bone
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
-
-
Cassidy, a German shepherd mix, has a brand new right hind leg thanks to brand new technology from North Carolina State University.
CBS
A dog from Long Island tiring from the struggle of having only three legs has a new strut to his step thanks to a brand new high-tech artificial leg. Animals with prosthetics is not necessarily new, but this new technique has given "Cassidy," a German shepherd mix, a fourth leg and a new life, reports CBS station WCBS-TV in New York.
At first glance, Cassidy looks like an ordinary dog on a walk, until you take a closer look and you'll notice his incredibly unique right hind leg. It's been a blessing for the dog, who was having trouble acclimating to his condition as he grew older.
Stephen and Susan Posovsky adopted Cassidy from a New York City shelter in 2005.
"Getting him a leg was not even in my thoughts at the time, it was just to save a dog," Stephen said.
But the couple realized that his condition was taking a toll on his body. "You could see that his posture [was off], it was really hard for him," Susan said.
So the Posovsky's found veterinary orthopedic surgeon Dr. Denis Marcellin-Little at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
"We worked for a year to try to design an external brace that was fairly sophisticated, but that did not work very well," Marcellin-Little said. "There were two removable legs made for him which he was just able to kick off. At that point, they took out some computer diagrams and said let's look into this possibility of an osseointegrated leg."
Cassidy's artificial leg is a permanent prosthetic – literally a part of his body. A titanium rod was implanted into Cassidy's tibia, or lower leg bone. Over several months, Cassidy's own bone fused to the titanium rod. Then a custom-designed carbon fiber foot with a rubber tread for traction screws right onto the implant.
Cassidy's new leg was a collaboration between Dr. Marcellin-Little and the engineering department at NC State. It took 14 months of planning, trial and error to finally fit Cassidy with his artificial leg.
"Now, he'd walk for two or three hours, not a hint of fatigue in his leg," said Stephen. "Watching him run on the beach, it's been very emotional. It's brought a lot of tears of joy."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Arlington Woman Charged With Murdering Husband 43 mins ago
Stumble It!
