Motivated by a twitching nose and a prosthetic paw, Spartacus charged forward in pursuit of peanut butter.
The 3-month-old puppy reached the spoon held by Burton Center for Arts & Technology student Andrea Jerausek and licked it clean.
Jerausek and her engineering classmates were using the treat to reward the pup Tuesday morning for testing a new limb they’d built using a 3D printer.
Spartacus was born with a malformed forelimb on his right side. As a result, everything from the wrist down is completely fatty tissue. But since his muscles are still intact, he tries to use his deformed, shorter paw, and has trouble.
Veterinarian Mark Wadstrom, owner of Animal Care Center near the Burton Center campus, coordinated with the Roanoke County school this semester to see about building a prosthetic after treating Spartacus. Three juniors — Joanne Wang, Nabeel Raza and Jerausek — took on the task. The goal was to create a brace to help the pup be able to tap into his natural instinct and use all four paws while developing naturally.
“We met Spartacus, took measurements, and came up with a first draft,” said Raza, whose home school is Hidden Valley High School. “But we had to go back to the drawing board, because at first, everything is a prototype.”
The students used 3D modeling software to design multiple variations of the prosthetic using different filaments. The most recent version fitted to Spartacus’ body has a sleeve that climbs up to the elbow, and is the students’ sixth design. It took seven hours to print, said Jerausek, whose home school is Northside High School.
“As far as total human input time, drawing this option up probably took about three hours,” said Raza. “That’s not counting time spent scribbling on napkins.”
Spartacus’ owner, Cheryl Campbell, was on hand for the prosthetic fitting Tuesday and said she’s grateful for the students’ work. She watched as they gently strapped the brace to the pup’s body while pacifying him with treats.
About a dozen other Burton students also had congregated in the classroom to watch Spartacus scamper.
The prosthetic likely won’t be the last the students make for the pup. He’s growing, and his weight of 20 pounds is likely to have quadrupled by this time next year. Wang, whose home school is also Hidden Valley, said a future version of the prosthetic likely will require a more flexible material.
The rapid growth of the canine is a major reason why having a prosthetic could benefit him for his lifetime. Since he’s instinctively shifting weight to his right front side, he’s placing more pressure on dead tissue, resulting in sores. “By doing this, we’re trying to prevent that,” said Raza.