Hear This, 2017: Scientists Are Creating New Ears With 3D-Printing and Human Stem Cells Two decades after the “earmouse,” researchers have mastered a powerful technique for growing ears from ...

The team started with a 3D computer model and used that to create a titanium mesh of the basic ear shape. They then seeded the mesh with cartilage cells that formed their own matrix over the mesh.

The ear was constructed from her own cells as a mirror replica of her other ear. Outside experts said it is the first time that 3D-printed tissue had been implanted into a human body.

The endolymphatic sac is a pressure valve for the liquid in the inner ear. It is made of a thin barrier of cells that expand and open, thus regulating the pressure.

THIS is not just any ear. It is the official standard for the human pinna, or outer ear. Called IEC TR 60959, its shape was defined in 1990 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC ...