Doctors in the United States have carried out what seems like a scene from science fiction:
a replacement ear grown in a laboratory from a patient’s own cartilage cells and a 3D-printed scaffold.
The groundbreaking surgery was led by Dr. Arturo Bonilla, founder and Director of the Microtia-Congenital Ear Deformity Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
The procedure was performed as part of an early-phase clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of 3D-printed ear implants for patients with microtia, a congenital condition in which the external ear is small and malformed due to improper development.
Currently, microtia patients typically receive ear reconstruction using cartilage taken from their ribs, or synthetic materials such as porous polyethylene (PPE).
The new technique produces a far more ideal ear for the patient:
Entirely biological,
Made from the patient’s own cells,
And with a shape and appearance that match the opposite ear much more closely than traditional rib-cartilage reconstruction.
The new implant, called AuriNovo, was developed by 3DBio Therapeutics in collaboration with the Microtia Institute.
The process involves scanning the patient’s healthy ear in 3D to create a digital model, then collecting a small sample of their ear-cartilage cells and expanding them in the lab.
These cells are mixed with a collagen-based bio-ink and shaped into an external ear using a biodegradable 3D-printed mold that supports the ear as it develops according to the initial design.
The clinical trial aims to include 11 patients, with procedures currently underway in California and Texas.
The first patient—a young woman—received her implant more than a month ago. Her incision has nearly healed, and the transplanted ear has integrated extremely well with her body.
According to Dr. Bonilla, 3D-printed ear transplants also make the surgery far less invasive than traditional methods, since no rib cartilage harvest is required and the reconstructive steps are significantly simplified.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that microtia affects 1 in 2,000–10,000 newborns, with varying degrees of deformity.
Risk factors include maternal gestational diabetes and diets low in carbohydrates and folic acid.