Artificial eyes, artificial limbs... Now, researchers are turning their eyes to the ears. Massachusetts General Hospital announced on July 31, 2013 that researchers have used titanium scaffolds and sheep chondrocytes in the laboratory to successfully produce artificial ears with realistic contours and flexibility.

The research team said in the "Royal Society Interface Magazine" that if this technology is applied to human transplantation in the future, then the ear will not be used for sheep ear cells, but for the patient's own stem cells. They are currently developing this technology further and hope to enter human clinical trials in about five years. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have chosen the ear made of titanium as a scaffold to overcome the shortcomings of the current artificial ear.

What kind of benefits does 3D technology bring to patients in the clinic? In the Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Zhongda Hospital affiliated to Southeast University, 3D printing technology has been applied to the ear reconstruction of patients with small ear.

6-year-old small ear disease patient saw his own "ear"

Dongdong (pseudonym) is 6 years old and is a small patient in the plastic surgery of Zhongda Hospital. Because of congenital small ear disease, the left ear of Dongdong is much smaller than the right ear, and there is no complete auricle shape. In the Department of Plastic Surgery of Zhongda Hospital, Dongdong was fortunate to be one of the beneficiaries of 3D printing technology application and ear reconstruction.

The 3D printing technician uses a hand-held scanner to scan the right ear 360 degrees. After scanning, the 3D renderings are presented on the computer, and then the 3D printer prints the mirrored ears, and a model of a vivid ear is displayed in front of it. It takes about 3 hours from scanning to production. I haven't had surgery yet, and Dongdong has seen what it looks like in my future ears. I am very happy. It is reported that the use of 3D printing technology in ear reconstruction is still the first time in China.

Associate Professor Xiong Meng, director of the Plastic Surgery Quality Control Center of Jiangsu Province and director of plastic surgery at the Zhongda Hospital affiliated to Southeast University, said that the 3D printed ear will make the process of engraving the ear more refined. According to the intact ear, the ear model is printed 1:1 with 3D printing technology. Before the operation, the patient's parents can intuitively feel the effect of the ear. During the operation, the doctor performs the operation according to the model, and it will be more thoughtful. The process of engraving the ear is more elaborate, and the ear made is more coordinated with the other ear. The effect is far better than the flat model previously cut out of film. During the operation, the doctor performed the operation according to the 3D printed model, replacing the planar model previously cut out with film. Let the doctors know more about the surgery, the ears made more personalized, is the "private customization" of each patient.

6-9 years old is the best time for ear reconstruction

Director Xiong Meng introduced that congenital microtia is mainly characterized by a defect in the auricle. Only the deformed cartilage and earlobe remain. There is no external auditory canal. CT examination can reveal the dysplasia of the middle ear and inner ear, and the hearing function of the patient has different degrees of obstacles. There may be one congenital malformation in 7000 newborns. The process of ear reconstruction is divided into two phases. The first phase is to embed a dilatation capsule made of silicone rubber under the skin of the ear reconstruction site. After one week of burying, the physiological saline is continuously injected into the expansion capsule, which is sufficient for remaking the ear. The skin is generally finished after two or three months of skin expansion. The second operation is to create a real ear. At present, the patient's own costal cartilage is selected to be carved into the same ear bracket as the normal ear, and then placed under the dilated skin to complete the reconstruction of the ear.

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