Oscar gets to try his new feet
A cat that had its back feet severed by a combine
harvester has been given two prosthetic limbs in a pioneering
operation by a UK vet.
The new feet are custom-made implants that "peg" the ankle to
the foot. They are bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone
grows through the skin.
The operation - a world first - was carried out by Noel
Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey.
His work is explored in a BBC documentary called The Bionic
Vet.
The prosthetic pegs, called intraosseous transcutaneous
amputation prosthetics (Itaps) were developed by a team from
University College London led by Professor Gordon Blunn, who is
head of UCL's Centre for Biomedical Engineering.
Professor Blunn and his team have worked in partnership with Mr
Fitzpatrick to develop these weight-bearing implants, combining
engineering mechanics with biology.
Mr Fitzpatrick explained: "The real revolution with Oscar is
[that] we have put a piece of metal and a flange into which skin
grows into an extremely tight bone."
"We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the
implant and we have developed an 'exoprosthesis' that allows this
implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal's limbs to
give him effectively normal gait."
Professor Blunn told BBC News the idea was initially developed
for patients with amputations who have a "stump socket".
"This means they fix their artifical limb with a sock, which
fits over the stump. In a lot of cases this is sucessful, but you
[often] get rubbing and pressure sores."
The Itap technology is being tested in humans and has already
been used to create a prosthetic for a woman who lost her arm in
the July 2005 London bombings.
"The intriguing thing with Oscar was that he had two implants -
one in each back leg, and in quite an unusual site," Professor
Blunn told BBC News.
He said that the success of this operation showed the potential
of the technology.
"Noel has some brilliant ideas," he added. "And we're continuing
to work closely with him to develop new technologies."
The Bionic Vet is on BBC 1 at 2245 BST on Wednesday
