Engineers design puppy ‘helmet’

Two engineers at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, mechanical engineering faculty member Trevor Elliott and recent graduate Connor Mackey, have designed and 3D-printed special head gear for a puppy with hydrocephalus.

Several weeks ago, Elliott – a UC Foundation associate professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science – received an unusual request from Chattanooga’s Humane Educational Society (HES). Niblet, a 1.1-kilogram Chihuahua puppy, had arrived at the shelter and quickly captured the hearts of the staff with his tiny size and energetic spirit. However, it soon became clear that the dog had a unique medical condition requiring special attention: a soft spot on the top of his head – about one and a half centimetres in diameter – indicating that his skull hadn’t fully fused.

The soft spot and lack of fusion in the skull are usually associated with hydrocephalus, ‘which is water on the brain’, HES director of veterinary services Sarah Callahan explained. The condition can make even the simplest household accidents potentially life-threatening, as ‘it makes him very susceptible to any kind of injury. Simple things falling around the house could hurt him.’

Recognising the seriousness of Niblet’s condition, HES animal services officers were determined to find a solution. ‘Our animal services officers wanted to see the best outcome for him and started brainstorming ideas like, “How could we get the head protected? Do we know anybody who can do us a favour?” That’s when Dr Sam brought up the contacts that she had from over at UTC,’ Callahan said. ‘She made a couple of phone calls, and I want to say later that afternoon, they were scanning the dog’s head for a helmet and coming up with a little prototype.’

Dr Sam is Samantha Blair, a full-time animal services officer with HES and a part-time faculty member at Dalton State College in Georgia. A few years ago, Blair participated in a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) programme hosted by Bradley Harris, an associate professor and director of the UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Chemical Engineering program.

‘When we realised that we were going to have to make a cap, I immediately thought of my experiences when I was doing the RET programme at UTC,’ Blair said, ‘and I remembered the amazing 3D printing abilities that the graduate students had. I called Bradley Harris, and he immediately put me in touch with Dr Elliott. Dr Elliott said, “Yes, we can do this,” which was amazing – because without this helmet, this dog won’t be able to live. I mean, this is necessary for him to be able to grow up and to continue to have a good life.’

The process toward building the protective headgear included scanning Niblet’s head and 3D printing. The 3D scanning was done by Justin Stephens from Volkswagen.

After learning about Niblet’s situation, Elliott immediately felt compelled to lend a hand. ‘As soon as I saw his cute little face, I said, “We’ve got to help,”’ he recalled. So he enlisted the assistance of Mackey, a May graduate who led the 2024 UTC Rocket Mocs team in winning the 3D Printing Award at this spring’s NASA Student Launch competition. ‘He’s interested in 3D printing and he’s very good at it,’ Elliott said, ‘and he was all in.’

‘As soon as I saw the email chain, I knew exactly how to do this. I knew I could actually help this dog,’ said Mackey, who will begin pursuing a Master’s in engineering at UTC this autumn.

Elliott solicited the help of Volkswagen’s Stephens to scan Niblet’s head to get a 3D image. He and Mackey then took different approaches toward creating headgear for Niblet; Mackey’s resembles a football helmet, while Elliott’s is more of a skull cap.

After multiple iterations, they met with Niblet at HES on 15 July to fit the now ten-week-old puppy with protective headgear. ‘It’s just kind of crazy what you can do,’ Mackey said. ‘It was honestly a very simple process of getting a scan and then modelling around that. It’s really cool that you can save a dog’s life using this kind of manufacturing process.’

‘It was pretty cool to see him walking around with it and knowing that it looks like at least one of our solutions is going to help him on his journey,’ Elliott added.

Fitting a puppy with protective headgear is ‘unchartered territory for us’, Callahan said, ‘so yeah, we’re hopeful for him. We really do think that he’s in the best possible place to have a good outcome and the longest life that he possibly can in a happy home.’

Caroline Smith, HES director of animal protection services, was quick to praise how quickly everyone rallied in support of Niblet. ‘Sometimes in this line of work, you don’t always get happy endings, so it’s so nice to see everyone come together to help out an animal,’ Smith said. ‘This definitely took a lot of teamwork – starting with Dr Callahan for letting us run with this idea – and we’re so thankful for UTC that they were willing to step in and help.’