{"id":84854,"date":"2021-12-12T12:24:53","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T10:24:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/blog\/engineering-ears-in-the-lab\/"},"modified":"2021-12-12T12:24:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T10:24:53","slug":"engineering-ears-in-the-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/engineering-ears-in-the-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Ears in the Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Future is Here: Technion Researchers and Sheba Medical Center Have Succeeded in Engineering an Ear<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Sheba Medical Center have developed an efficient technology for the fabrication of custom-made functional aesthetic implants for the rehabilitation of congenitally deformed ears.<\/p>\n

Microtia is a birth defect that occurs when the external ear fails to develop normally, and as a result, is small and improperly formed. Microtia occurs in 0.1 to 0.3 percent of births. Occasionally, besides the aesthetic issue, microtia also involves hearing loss.<\/p>\n

Since the \u201cbones\u201d of the outer ear \u2013 the auricle \u2013 are in fact flexible cartilage and not bone tissue, the customary technique for microtia reconstruction is to use costal cartilage harvested from the patient\u2019s chest. This method involves pain and discomfort as well as risk of further complications. Moreover, constructing an ear that is identical to the other one depends on both the surgeon\u2019s creativity and high-level surgical skills.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Researchers applied new technologies for tissue engineering to fabricate a scaffold that formed neocartilage implants<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The journal Biofabrication<\/em><\/a> reported the Israeli researchers\u2019 breakthrough, which was achieved through a collaborative project between Professor Shulamit Levenberg<\/strong> of the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion and Dr. Shay Izhak Duvdevani<\/strong>, a senior physician in the Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Department and Head of the Tissue Engineering Lab at Sheba Medical Center.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Shay Izhak Duvdevani<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the current study, the researchers applied new technologies for tissue engineering, developed in Prof.\u00a0 Levenberg\u2019s lab under the leadership of Dr. Shira Landau, to fabricate a biodegradable auricle scaffold <\/strong>that formed stable, custom-made neocartilage implants<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. Shira Landau<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The unique scaffold, which allows for the formation of an aesthetic and stable auricle, is 3D-printed and based on a CT scan. It is biodegradable and forms chondrocytes \u2013 the cells responsible for cartilage formation \u2013 and mesenchymal stem cells. The scaffold has pores of varying sizes, allowing for cell attachment to form stable cartilage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The researchers monitored cartilage formation within the auricle construct in the lab for between 10 days and six weeks<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the researchers, engineering an auricle from the patient\u2019s own cells will reduce the suffering and risk caused to children as a result of harvesting their costal cartilage. Furthermore, it will allow the surgery to be performed on children as young as six years old, rather than the currently accepted practice of waiting until they are 10. Performing the surgery at a younger age is likely to mitigate the psychological effects of microtia on children.<\/p>\n

The researchers monitored cartilage formation within the auricle construct in the lab for between 10 days and 6 weeks, and then implanted it in a murine model. The outcome: Graft integration was successful, and the prosthetic ear demonstrated good biomechanical function<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Professor Shulamit Levenberg<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Prof. Levenberg,<\/strong> \u201cOne of the challenges in the study was to find a suitable 3D printing method, since fabricating an ear necessitates the use of biodegradable materials that break down in the body without harming it but have an extremely accurate external structure and small pores. We demonstrated all of this in the present research and estimate that it will be possible to tailor our technology to other applications, such as nasal reconstruction and fabrication of various orthopedic implants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The unique scaffold, which allows for the formation of an aesthetic and stable auricle, is 3D-printed and based on a CT scan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Duvdevani<\/strong> added: “In the present study, we achieved a significant breakthrough by means of the integration of medicine and research, and collaboration between doctors and researchers. This research is another milestone in the transition to advanced technologies in medicine, where the use of 3D printing and tissue engineering will play a significant part and provide patients with an optimal, state-of-the-art response.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Future is Here: Technion Researchers and Sheba Medical Center Have Succeeded in Engineering an Ear Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Sheba Medical Center have developed an efficient technology for the fabrication of custom-made functional aesthetic implants for the rehabilitation of congenitally deformed ears. Microtia is a birth defect that… Continue Reading Engineering Ears in the Lab<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEngineering Ears in the Lab - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technion.ac.il\/en\/blog\/engineering-ears-in-the-lab\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engineering Ears in the Lab - \u05d4\u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5\u05df-\u05de\u05db\u05d5\u05df \u05d8\u05db\u05e0\u05d5\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d9 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Future is Here: Technion Researchers and Sheba Medical Center Have Succeeded in Engineering an Ear Researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Sheba Medical Center have developed an efficient technology for the fabrication of custom-made functional aesthetic implants for the rehabilitation of congenitally deformed ears. 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