A report from Global News on the increasingly innovative uses of 3-D printing featured work by U of G veterinary surgical oncologist Dr. Michelle Oblak, who used the technology to repair two dogs’ skulls.   

The report described Oblak’s surgery in 2019 on a dog named Murphy who needed brain surgery for a cancerous tumour. A 3-D model of Murphy’s tumour and skull was built so Oblak could determine the best surgical path and practise the complex surgery.  

It was the second such surgery for Oblak, who completed similar surgery on a dog named Patches in 2018. That groundbreaking work made national and international headlines. 

When it comes to the future of 3-D printing, Oblak said the possibilities are infinite. 

 “It’s really just limited by the imagination,” she said.

A professor in the Department of Clinical Studies at the Ontario Veterinary College, Oblak focuses on translational research and has several collaborations considering dogs as a naturally occurring disease model for cancer in humans.