Faster and better
Little patent tricks for making new ears
Sometimes (this happens once every 8,000-10,000 births) a person is born without an ear. The problem can be expressed to varying degrees — cartilage (microtia) is observed instead of the ear, or the ear is completely absent (anotia). It is clear that the absence of an ear canal and a regular-shaped eardrum means partial deafness, and an undeveloped auricle catches the eye and can cause harassment in a children's collective. Surgery comes to the rescue. In particular, rib cartilage transplantation is used to create a new ear — the patient himself acts as a donor of the material for this. The operation is complicated — so much so that, for example, in the USA, only two teams of surgeons are able to reconstruct the auditory canal and the outer ear in one stage.
However, recently, a method has been developed within the walls of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Johns Hopkins University), which makes it possible to significantly simplify and improve the process. To help surgeons, two specialized tools have been created, about the experience of using which an article has been published in the journal Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine (Leto Barone et al., Cartilage-Sparing Microtia Repair: First in-Human Test of Autologous Framework Production). A short retelling of its contents can be read in the press release of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The devices are patented.
"Although surgery to overcome microtia and anotia of the ear in children and adults has been practiced for several years, it still remains a difficult procedure for both the patient and the surgeon," explains the pediatric plastic surgeon Angelo Leto Barone. "What makes the process very difficult is that it takes at least a little artistic skill to create a suitable ear."
In order for such operations to be performed by people without the talent of a sculptor, Barone in collaboration with a resident of interventional and diagnostic radiological surgery at Johns Hopkins University Anirudh Arun and created two devices.
With the help of the first one, the rib cartilage of the patient can be cut out correctly, with the help of the second one, pieces of tissue can be formed according to a template convenient for folding a new ear.
"The cartilage cutting device practically doubles the amount of cartilage tissue available for surgery, which means that less material is needed to safely get the entire ear," says Arun. "Now we need to touch two and a half ribs, not four, as before — as a result, there is less waste and less suffering for the patient."
With the help of a cutter developed by doctors, sections of cartilage turn into parts of a new ear in a matter of minutes — manually using a scalpel it takes hours.
"In addition to the fact that the process is accelerated, the use of the template greatly reduces the damage to the cartilage, which often happens when working with the old method of reconstruction," says Barone. — This makes our system highly reproducible, user-friendly, time- and cost-effective. And best of all, our tool invariably creates a natural appearance of the ear, which helps children avoid teasing or bullying, and allows adults to do what others take for granted, for example, wear glasses."
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