CHENNAI: Researchers at SIMS Hospital are in the end stage of animal study on growing external ear in the lab using cartilage cells. The research which was already done and tried on humans in China is being tested on animals in India now.
The research may create a new hope for patients suffering from congenital deformity and who are in need of artificial ear here. The cartilage cells are taken from the animal. A 3D printed replica of normal ear and a mould with tiny holes is filled with cartilage cells that are grown in the lab. After three months, the cell started growing into the shape of the mould.
Since the mould is made up of biodegradable material, it will dissolve as the cartilage grows. Then, the cartilage grown from the patients’ own cell will be grafted onto the children.