New 3D-printed prosthetic implants developed for treating hearing loss

Researchers have identified a promising new means of treating hearing loss using advanced custom-designed implants created using 3D printing methods.

A team from the University of Maryland have found a way of producing new, more accurate prosthetic replacements for damaged parts of the middle ear, a procedure that often fails due to the use of incorrectly-sized implants.

For this study, computed tomography was used to scan examples of middle linking bones from the human ossicular chain, with an inexpensive 3D printer then used to produce prostheses using a resin that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet laser light.

Four surgeons asked to correctly match these prosthesis model to their intended temporal bones were subsequently shown to be able to do so, with the chances of this occurring randomly calculated at one in 1,296.

Further research will now examine whether this method can be used to create prostheses out of biocompatible materials and stem cells.

Study author Dr Jeffrey Hirsch, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said: "Instead of making the middle ear prosthesis solid, you could perforate it to be a lattice that allows stem cells to grow on to it. The stem cells would mature into bone and become a permanent fix for patients with hearing loss."

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