Groundbreaking Surgery to Cure Deafness

Professor Mashudu Tshifularo, a renowned South African doctor, has gained international acclaim for performing the world’s first middle ear transplant using 3D-printed bones. 

This pioneering surgery, aimed at curing conductive hearing loss, took place in March 2019 at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.

The innovative procedure involved transplanting ossicles—small bones located in the middle ear—that were 3D-printed. By replacing damaged bones with these replicas, Prof. Tshifularo and his team successfully restored the hearing of a patient who had experienced hearing loss due to physical damage to the middle ear.

This remarkable advancement in the field of otology (the study of the ear) offers new hope for patients suffering from conductive hearing loss, which can arise from infections, trauma, or congenital defects.