Scientists Create Prosthetic With 3D Printers For Vulnerable Bird

Scientists found cancer on the casque of Crescent, a 25-year-old Great Indian Hornbill. They removed the tumor and added a prosthetic casque.

Humans see medical advancements each day, but in Tampa, Florida, cutting-edge technology is meeting with veterinary medicine to help save a vulnerable species.

Perched in her home at ZooTampa, you can hardly tell anything was wrong with Crescent, a 25-year-old Great Indian Hornbill. But on her casque, the top portion of her beak and the helmet like structure on top of her head, is a sign of the efforts from a cross section of engineers, medical experts and veterinarians using 3D-printing technology.

"It is not something in veterinary medicine we frequently get to do," said Dr. Kendra Baker, an associate veterinarian at ZooTampa. "The amount of people that we spoke to that we talked to helped us to make this plan the most successful that it could be for Crescent is just fabulous."