(Photo: Technion Spokesperson’s Office
By Brian Blum - December 19, 2021
A small percentage (0.1% to 0.3%) of babies are born with congenitally deformed ears. This can have a severe psychological impact, and sometimes involves hearing loss.
While surgeons can reconstruct a proper ear using cartilage harvested from the patient’s chest, the procedure is not usually performed until at least 10 years of age.
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Sheba Medical Center have developed a way to 3D-print “scaffolding” as the basis for a replacement ear.
The scaffold, which allows for the formation of an aesthetic and stable auricle (the visible part of the external ear), is designed from a CT scan of the patient’s ear and can be performed on children as young as six years old.
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