ENT clinic produces the world’s first patient-specific implants with drug release
Hearing researcher Yanjing Luo from PD Dr Verena Scheper's team with the ear canal implant.
Copyright: Desktop Health
Patient receives first ear canal implant with drug release from 3D printer.
For the first time, the ENT clinic at Hannover Medical School (MHH) has provided an adult patient with a customized implant for the external auditory canal featuring drug release benefits. The implant is 3D printed and additionally designed to continuously and locally release an active ingredient to accelerate healing. “We have thus opened the door to a new type of pioneering patient care,” explains ENT clinic director Prof. Prof. h.c Dr. med. Thomas Lenarz, MD. The clinic at the MHH is the first in the world to produce an implant adapted to the patient’s individual anatomy from the Desktop Health 3D-Bioplotter® printer and functionalize it by adding active ingredients.
The patient now fitted with it suffered from recurrent narrowing of the auditory canal, which had been treated surgically several times without showing the desired success. The implant, which has now been specially manufactured on the bioprinter, enables both stent function and drug delivery. “The first follow-up has already been very promising,” reports PD Dr. Verena Scheper, whose team from the Otolaryngology Clinic’s Inner Ear Pharmacology Department designed the implant and manufactured it using the 3D-Bioplotter Manufacturing Series
Background: The MHH ENT Clinic is internationally renowned for the world’s largest cochlear implant program for the care of hearing-impaired patients. The first CI surgery was performed here as early as 1984. In 2003, the German Hearing Center Hannover was opened. To date, the clinic has provided more than 11,111 affected persons with a cochlear implant. Other areas of focus include the provision of hearing aids and their further development, the early detection of childhood hearing loss, and the diagnosis and treatment of sensorineural hearing loss, including tinnitus.
SERVICE:
For more information, contact Daniela Beyer, ENT Clinic, beyer.daniela@mh-hannover.de.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Medical Engineering
The development of medical equipment, products and technical procedures is characterized by high research and development costs in a variety of fields related to the study of human medicine.
innovations-report provides informative and stimulating reports and articles on topics ranging from imaging processes, cell and tissue techniques, optical techniques, implants, orthopedic aids, clinical and medical office equipment, dialysis systems and x-ray/radiation monitoring devices to endoscopy, ultrasound, surgical techniques, and dental materials.
Newest articles
Going Green: Fighting Freshwater Salt Pollution with Phytoremediation
Salt pollution in freshwater is a growing global concern. Excessive salt harms plants, degrades soil, and compromises water quality. In urban areas, road salts used for de-icing during winter often…
Psoriasis Patients at Increased Risk for Crohn’s Due to Gut Inflammation
People with the skin condition psoriasis often have invisible inflammation in the small intestine with an increased propensity for ‘leaky gut’, according to new research at Uppsala University. These changes…
Popular Weight-Loss Drugs—Beneficial or Risky?
GLP-1 medications tied to decreased risk of dementia, addiction; increased risk of kidney, pancreas and gastrointestinal problems Growing Public Demand for GLP-1RA Weight-Loss Medications Demand for weight-loss medications sold under…