Alright, printing out body parts may sound bizarre but that’s what has just surfaced across a while ago. Researchers at Cornell University recently engineered artificial human ears using custom-built 3D printing technology that feature a close resemblance to real-life human ears. Developed using lipid films encapsulating thousands of united water droplets, the living human ear significantly improves upon prosthetic ears and benefits largely from current methods for enhanced comfort.
Although the lifelike human ears reveal a great potential for basic science, the new technology could render an effective solution long searched by reconstructive surgeons for treating medical conditions such as congenital deformity microtia. The ears developed using 3D printing could also be used for people who suffered ear loss in an accident or to cancer – providing a significant advancement for both medicine and basic science.
However, the development took place with a digitalized 3D image of an individual’s ear first, which served impressively to create a shape of a lifelike ear using a 3D printer. Subsequent to which, the ear pattern was infused with a high density, injectable gel made of living cells. As per the reported sources, the cartilage of the lifelike human ear was grown on the collage post the exclusion of the ear mold.
While the entire developmental process was precisely executed in a short span of time, medical practitioners and researchers believe the new human ears would provide long-term benefits for patients who need a reliable solution to ear loss. The technological and medical advancement further hopes to transform the way physicians could treat children born with the deformity; however, the implantation of a bioengineered ear on a child would be around the age of five or six.
Although researchers are yet to divulge details on the general attainability, the natural-looking yet solid human ears are certainly expected to change many things for better in the near future.
