Surgeons at N.C. State Vet School performed a first-of-a-kind procedure on Thursday to give a dog a chance to run normally again.

Steve Posovsky took the dog he named Cassidy in after he saw him on a morning news show's adoption segment. He says the dog was "unadoptable" because he only had three legs, but Posovsky felt their relationship was meant to be.

"What his future was at that place was unknown," he said. "I just knew deep down that I was saving a life when I took him."

Posovsky began investigating what could be done for Cassidy almost immediately. In October of 2005, he and his wife Susan brought Cassidy to N.C. State's vet school.

Orthopedic Surgeon Denis Marcellin-Little was working with engineers at N.C. State's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering to design a new type of prosthesis that could be implanted in the bone. After Cassidy rejected two removable prosthetic legs, Marcellin-Little suggested to the Posovskys that their dog could be a candidate for the new procedure.

During the four-hour surgery, a titanium implant was fitted onto what was left of Cassidy's lower leg bone.

"We let the bone rest and merge with the implant for the three month period or so it takes for that implant to be firmly anchored," said Marcellin-Little of the process called osseointegration.

When Cassidy is discharged in a few days, the leg won't look much different, except for the visible tip of the implant. When they return in the fall, the prosthetic leg should be ready to try. Engineering professor Dr. Ola Harrysson and his team are still working on the computer models for the design.

"Right now, we are designing a prosthetic leg for Cassidy that will have sensors in it to measure the force," said Harrysson. "That way we can fine tune the strength."

While their focus for now is on implants for animals, both Harrysson and Marcellin-Little say the idea of using similar technology in humans is a realistic goal.

"The plan for the future is to be able to do this on a regular basis," said Harrysson. "To be able to receive a CT scan from a hospital and probably, within days, turn this around."