Scientists Create Artificial Ears

Through the power of 3-D printing, bioenginners created an artificial ear that looks and functions just like a real one would. A team at Cornell University collaborated on the breakthrough that gives hope to the thousands of people born with a congenital deformity called microtia. 

(Cornell University)

Scientists discovered that the combination of 3-D printing and injectable gels made of living cells can fashion ears that are practically identical to a human ear. 

To make the ears, scientists started with a digitized 3-D image of a human's ear and then converted the image into a digitized "solid" ear using a 3-D printer to assemble a mold.

Then the team took that mold and injected a Cornell-developed gel made from a combination of collagen from rat tails and 250 million cartilage cells from the ears of cows. 

Over a three-month period, these flexible ears grew cartilage to replace the collagen that was used to mold them.

Currently, replacement ears are usually constructed with Styrofoam-like materials, or sometimes, surgeons build ears from a patient's harvested rib. However, this option tends to hurt children and rarely perform well. 

Cornell scientists hope that if pending safety and efficacy tests work out, the first human implant of a bioengineered ear can be done in as little as three years.