An American medical team announced Thursday that for the first time it has grafted a human ear implant made from the cells of a treated patient and using a 3D printer, a procedure that should help people suffering from a rare birth defect.
This operation was performed as part of a clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of such an implant for people with microtia, whose outer ear is not properly formed.
AuriNovo, the name of the implant, was developed by the company 3DBio Therapeutics, and the operation was performed by Arturo Bonilla, founder of an institute that specializes in the treatment of this malformation, in San Antonio, Texas.
As a physician who has treated thousands of children with microtia across the country and the world, I am excited about this technology and what it can mean for patients and their families.said the surgeon, quoted in a press release from the company.
The procedure is performed by creating a 3D impression of the fully formed other ear of the patient and then harvesting cartilage cells from their ear.
They are cultivated to get a sufficient quantity, then mix them with a collagen hydrogel. It is this mixture that is used in implant printing.
The clinical trial should include a total of 11 patients, in California and Texas.
Dr. said. Bonilla said he hopes the implant will one day replace current treatments, which include making a prosthesis from the removal of cartilage from a rib, or a substance called porous polyethylene.
The first solution was a complex procedure, and the implant using porous polyethylene was less flexible than the one tested today, he explained.
Microtia attacks approximately 1,500 babies in the United States each year, according to the company.
If they do not have other health problems, these children will live normally. But some may find it difficult to see how others perceive this malformation.
Source: Radio-Canada
