14 DAY TRIAL // Prosthetics have benefited greatly from advancements in 3D printing technology, but they are not always the answer, because some creatures just don't deal with prosthetics well.
Ducks are one example, especially when they suffer from internal metatarsal torsion, meaning that they can't put any weight on a specific leg.
Quack-Quack ended up in this situation after it was attacked by a dog on the college campus of the National Taiwan University (NTU). It went through surgery, but the vets were unable to restore the duck's ability to walk.
That's where a company called Lung X Lung Design came in, along with Taipei Hackerspace. They developed a brace that restored Quack-Quack's ability to walk.
First, they made a mold of the duck's foot, then used a scanner to create a 3D model of it (scanning the foot directly didn't work due to how light deflected off of it).
The model was then used to develop a covering for the foot and a brace that could attach to the leg and support the bird's weight.
After a few trials, they settled on a design that leaves the toes exposed and allows the duck to walk more or less normally, without feeling too much pain. Eventually, it should make a full recovery (it's like a cast, but less bulky and restrictive).