Steve Biko Hospital conducts world's first ever middle ear transplant
14 March 2019
The Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane has successfully completed the world's first ever middle ear transplant, using 3D-printed middle ear bones.
The groundbreaking surgery has allowed a 35-year-old man to hear again after his ear was completely damaged in a car accident.
"This may be the answer to conductive hearing loss, a middle ear problem caused by congenital birth defects, infection, trauma or metabolic diseases," health department spokesperson Popo Maja said in a statement on Wednesday.
The surgery was developed by Professor Mashudu Tshifularo and his team at the University of Pretoria's faculty of health using 3D-printing technology to print the hammer, anvil and stirrup – the ossicles that make up the middle ear. They are the smallest bones in the human body.