A Medical Team Have Saved The Life Of A 3-Foot-Long Cancer-Stricken Great Hornbill Bird, At Zoo Tampa, Using Innovative Solution! A 3D Printer In First-Of-Its-Kind Surgery.

A Medical Team Have Saved The Life Of A 3-Foot-Long Cancer-Stricken Great Hornbill Bird, At Zoo Tampa, Using Innovative Solution! A 3D Printer In First-Of-Its-Kind Surgery.    

"A great hornbill's life has been saved by a team of veterinarians, dermatology  experts and other staff members at a zoo in Florida following a successful surgery to replace the bird's cancerous beak with a 3D-printed prosthetic one.

Animal caretakers at ZooTampa were fearful for 25-year-old Crescent's life after the colorful bird - generally found in Southeast Asia - developed squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer that often proves to be fatal for the species but not for humans, at the top of its beak - also known as a 'casque.'  

Despite the grim diagnosis, Crescent's caregivers refused to give up. They sought consultation from medical experts in a bid to extend the hornbill's life, although they were warned that the median survival time for birds once they catch the disease is 357 days, according scientific research. 

ZooTampa contacted veterinarians from all across the country, as well as several human doctors specializing in dermatology, with many agreeing to volunteer in the process - much to the zoo's surprise.

'We asked ourselves, if this was a human, what would we do?' said Dr. Summer Decker, vice chair for research and innovation at the University of South Florida's Department of Radiology. 

'So, we began to plan how to fix Crescent's casque using the technology we use every day on our human patients – 3D printing,' she added. 

Dental acrylic and titanium screws were implanted to Crescent's upper bill as part of the 3D-printed replacement casque. The surgery to replace Crescent's beak was the first operation of its kind in the U.S. on a hornbill and only the second around the world.

Associate Veterinarian Dr. Kendra Baker, who works at the zoo, said in a news release that continuous talks with oncologists and imaging scientists were 'an all-in effort.' 

A medical imaging technique known as a computerized tomography (CT) scan all but confirmed that removing the tumor from Crescent's casque would offer the hornbill its best chance of survival.

But doctors and veterinarians warned that common surgery for this type of procedure would not be performed, or it would leave the bird's sinuses exposed to bacteria.  

'This tumor is typically found near the front of the casque in hornbills, but hers was in the back,' Baker said of Crescent's condition in a statement.  

Rebuffing suggestions to not operate on the bird, experts found an innovative way to kill the the tumor and protect her sinuses from bacterial infection.  

ZooTampa disclosed that a team of veterinarians, physicians, biomedical engineers and specialists worked together to create a new 3D-printed prosthetic before they surgically removed the tumor from the affected area of Crescent's casque.  

Formlabs, a private biomedical laboratory that specializes in manufacturing 3D printing solutions, contributed to the surgery. 

'Formlabs donated the material, and the USF Health Radiology 3D team printed the surgical guide and new casque on a Formlabs 3D printer developed for healthcare use,' ZooTampa said. 

Since being released from surgery, the zoo says the hornbill has been recovering well and that her caretakers have not noticed any signs of behavioral change.

Despite Crescent now being cancer-free, she is still closely monitored after being restored inside her aviary.

'An unexpected benefit came when Crescent began preening within hours after surgery,' ZooTampa said. 

'The Formlabs resin happened to be compatible with the yellow preening oils secreted from the glands above her tail, giving the new casque the same bright glow as her original one.'

The great hornbill, also called the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the the largest of the hornbill family. They are often found in Southeast Asia, noticeably in Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese and Thai forests. 

They often make 'whooshing' noise when they are flying due to a shortage of feathers under their wings that is typically found in other birds.

The birds are registered as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to the ongoing problem of deforestation.

Hornbills are protected in certain parts of West and Northeast India and Thailand, with their population currently estimated to be between 23,000 to 71,000." - dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10668781/Cancer-stricken-great-hornbill-bird-saved-given-new-3D-printed-BEAK.html