Brand-New Ear

When a man in China lost his right ear in a car accident, doctors grew him a new one—on his arm! Last November, surgeons transplanted the replacement ear onto the patient’s head in a complex seven-hour operation.

The first step to creating the artificial ear was to make an ear-shaped model using a 3-D printer. These types of printers build up layers of material, like plastic, to make solid objects. Doctors implanted the model ear under the skin of the patient’s arm. They then injected water into the area to stretch the skin into the shape of an ear.

Next, doctors extracted cartilage from the patient’s ribs. Cartilage is the tough but flexible connective tissue that gives real ears their shape. The doctors formed the cartilage into the shape of an ear under the newly stretched skin. The cartilage was then left under the skin so tissues could grow around it. After four months, the ear was ready to be transplanted onto the man’s head.

The forearm is a great place to grow an ear. It’s a protected spot on the body, says Dr. J. Peter Rubin, a plastic surgeon who reconstructs or repairs parts of the body at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. There’s also a nearby vein that can provide blood to the growing tissues, which they need to stay alive.

So is an artificial ear as good as the real deal? Not quite: The patient won’t be able to hear with the transplanted ear. But he joked that his new ear looked just as good as his old one.