3D printing offers customised prosthetics to reverse hearing loss

The technique, presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), has the potential to improve a surgical procedure that often fails because of incorrectly sized prosthetic implants, researchers said.

Hearing works partly through the transmission of vibrations from the eardrum to the cochlea - the sensory organ of hearing - via three tiny bones in the middle ear called ossicles. Ossicular conductive hearing loss occurs when the ossicles are damaged.

Conductive hearing loss can be treated through surgical reconstruction using prostheses made from stainless steel struts and ceramic cups, but the failure rate is high.

"The ossicles are very small structures, and one reason the surgery has a high failure rate is thought to be due to incorrect sizing of the prostheses," said study author Jeffrey D Hirsch, MD, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in Baltimore. "If you could custom-design a prosthesis with a more exact fit, then the procedure should have a higher rate of success."