It is not often that a veterinarian’s office and a high school science teacher join forces, but that is exactly what recently happened at Braden Run Animal Hospital. In June, the hospital had a patient – a puppy with an injured leg. Her leg was fractured, and the puppy had been previously seen at an emergency hospital, where the leg was splinted. However, the splint was displaced and when the puppy made its way to the staff at Braden Run, its leg fracture had become much worse. The team had a puppy-sized splint at their hospital, but for the wrong leg. After a search, they were unable to locate the correct size splint for the correct leg. The splint they needed was back ordered and the puppy didn’t have the time to wait. That’s when the staff at Braden Run reached out to Carmichaels High School teacher Mr. Jared Rastoka.
At Carmichaels High School, Mr. Rastoka oversees a manufacturing lab. This lab was funded by a grant from EQT and houses a variety of manufacturing equipment that Rastoka and his students use. Students take courses at the high school such as CAD, CAM, and Introduction to Manufacturing. They learn how to use the equipment, which includes a hand saw, combination sander, a vertical milling machine, two CNC hobby mills, and a 3D printer. 3D printers can take a flat, or one-dimensional picture, and from that picture create a three-dimensional model. These printers are used for a very wide-ranging variety of manufacturing tasks. From robotics to medical equipment, there are countless applications for this type of technology.
Mr. Rastoka was asked by Dr. Anita McMillen and Sara, a Braden Run vet tech and Rastoka’s wife, if he could attempt to use the school’s 3D printer to create the much-needed splint for the puppy. They provided him with the splint they had for the wrong leg, and he was able to use a CAD program to mirror it, and print it flat. He then used a heat gun to create the appropriate curves so that it would fit the puppy perfectly.
The puppy, who the owners named Angel wore the splint until her fracture healed. Once it was removed, she went back to being a healthy and active puppy. The staff at Braden Run Animal Hospital have dubbed Mr. Rastoka a “hero of pets” and are very grateful for his help.