Doctors in the US have transplanted a 3D-printed ear made of human cells. 

Experts have tested new technology that uses 3D-printing to make a body part with a patient’s own cells.

A 20-year-old woman who was born with a small and misshapen right ear received the new ear implant, according to the company behind the technology, 3DBio Therapeutics.

The reconstructive procedure in the first-in-human clinical trial is designed for patients with microtia - a rare congenital deformity where one or both outer ears are absent or underdeveloped. 

Microtia affects approximately 1,500 babies born in the US annually. 

The company was testing a product it calls AuriNovo - a patient-specific, living tissue implant created using 3D-bioprinting technology for surgical reconstruction of the outer ear in people born with microtia Grades II-IV. 

AuriNovo is designed to provide a treatment alternative to rib cartilage grafts and synthetic materials traditionally used to reconstruct the outer ear of microtia patients. 

Following 3D-scanning of the opposite ear to specifically match the patient’s ear geometry, AuriNovo incorporates the patient’s own auricular cartilage cells into a 3D-bioprinted, living, full-sized ear construct designed to replace the patient’s microtia-affected ear.

Citing proprietary concerns, the company has not publicly disclosed the technical details of the process, making it difficult for outside experts to evaluate. 

However, Dr Adam Feinberg, who is not affiliated with 3DBio but is a co-founder of FluidForm (a regenerative medicine company that also uses 3D-printing), says it is “definitely a big deal”.

“It shows this technology is not an ‘if’ anymore, but a ‘when,’” he said.

3DBio Therapeutics says that federal regulators are reviewing the trial design and setting strict manufacturing standards, and that the data will be published in a medical journal when the study is complete.

Scientists are working in many areas to extend the life of donor organs so they do not go to waste. 

In a separate study, Swiss doctors report that a patient who received a human liver that had been preserved for three days was still healthy a year later.

Additionally, non-human body parts are increasingly being used to fill shortages of organs and other bodily materials.