Aug 12
If you’re in the market for a replacement ear, how about one of these wonderful little 3D printed ones?
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May 02
Scientists have toyed with printing ear implants for ages, but they’ve usually been more cosmetic than functional. Princeton has just developed a bionic ear that could transcend those mere replacements to offer a full-on upgrade. Rather than seed hydrogel with cells and call it a day, the researchers 3D printed a blend of calf cells, hydrogel and an integrated, coiled antenna made from silver nanoparticles. The frankly spooky project doesn’t resemble a natural ear all that closely, but it merges organic and synthetic more gracefully than inserting a chip into an existing implant. It can also expand hearing beyond normal human levels: the experimental version picks up radio waves, for example. Although the ear is just the first step on a long path toward natural-feeling bionics, it already has us wondering if we’ll be actively seeking out replacement body parts in the future… not that we’re about to go all Van Gogh to get them.
Filed under: Wearables, Science, Alt
Via: Phys.org
Source: Nano Letters
Feb 22
Science! A team of bioengineers and physicians over at Cornell University recently detailed their work to 3D print lifelike ears that may be used to treat birth defects like microtia and assist those who have lost or damaged an ear due to an accident or cancer. The product, which is, “practically identical to the human ear,” according to the school, was created using 3D printing and gels made from living cells — collagen was gathered from rat tails and cartilage cells were taken from cow’s ears. The whole process is quite quick, according to associate professor Lawrence Bonassar, who co-authored the report on the matter,
“It takes half a day to design the mold, a day or so to print it, 30 minutes to inject the gel, and we can remove the ear 15 minutes later. We trim the ear and then let it culture for several days in nourishing cell culture media before it is implanted.”
The team is looking to implant the first ear in around three years, if all goes well.
Source: Cornell Chronicle
Nov 08
You wouldn’t immediately think of the ear’s cochlea as an energy source, but MIT knows that every mammal effectively has a pair of very small power plants because of the ionized environment. School researchers are trying to harness that energy through a new sensor that exploits the whole ear canal system. As eardrum vibrations naturally create a usable voltage from brain signals, the prototype can build enough charge in a capacitor to drive a very low-power wireless transmitter that relays the electrochemical properties of the ear and potentially diagnoses balance or hearing problems. The beauty of the system is its true self-sustainability: once the transmitter has been been jumpstarted with radio waves, it powers itself through the resulting transmissions. Energy use is also sufficiently miserly that the sensor doesn’t interrupt hearing. Work is still early enough that there’s a long way to go before such implants are part of any treatments, but there’s hope that future chip iterations could help fix inner ear maladies, not just report on them. Something tells us, however, that the doctor won’t ask us to take two dubstep tracks and call back in the morning.
Filed under: Wearables, Science, Alt
MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Oct 01
Woman Grows Replacement Ear on Her Arm: Still Easier than Growing a Child in Her Belly
Posted in: Today's ChiliEven though we still don’t have a cure for the common cold, modern medicine does have a lot of achievements under its belt. Most of them creepy. We’ve heard of doctors restoring motion to a paralyzed man, transplant a face and now replace an ear. An ear which they grew on the patient’s arm.
The bizarre procedure was led by Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Patrick Byrne. It was performed on Sherrie Walters, who had previously lost her left ear – as well as part of her skull – in a previous operation to help her fight her basal cell cancer. Dr. Byrne “used cartilage from Walters’ ribs to stitch together a new ear matching her right ear.” The cartilage was then implanted in Walters’ left forearm, where it grew for “months”, no doubt the weirdest months of her life.
You’ve probably heard of lab grown outer ears before: it was performed on a mouse in the late 90s, and in 2007 a performance artist had one grown on his arm as well. But seeing how it helps and uplifts people makes it significantly less creepy.
Those of you who can bear the graphic images can head to CBS Baltimore’s website. You can browse more pictures of Walters’ operation from a PowerPoint slide made by Johns Hopkins at the bottom of the source article.
[via Boing Boing]
Aug 10
Well this is exactly the type of story that is going to burrow deep into my brain tonight and manifest itself in some sort of horrific, vivid nightmare. Apparently a woman living in South-Central China turned up at a hospital with a live spider living in her ear. Eeesh!
She came to the hospital complaining of an itching sensation in her ear, and when the doctor took a look, out peeped a nasty, creepy, crawly arachnid. The spider had been living in her ear for at least three days before she went to the hospital.
While the doctor considered yanking the spider out of the woman’s ear, there was concern it would only dig in deeper and set up shelter inside her ear canal for the winter. So in a stroke of genius, the doctor poured saline solution into her ear, and the water caused the spider to float out and scurry away.
On a related note, Amazon has plenty of earplugs on sale today.
[via ChinaDaily via M.I.C. Gadget]
Jun 24
An Ear Within an Ear: Earception
Posted in: Today's ChiliWe’ve all heard about the third eye; but have you ever heard of the third ear? And the fourth ear that follows? If you haven’t, then you’re about it. And let me just say, they’re probably not what you expected.
It’s not some weird ability or anything. It’s basically a pair of earrings fashioned in the shape, color, and form of a human ear. They’re made from Super Sculpey clay attached to stainless steel earring studs.
These are the unique creations of London-based artist Percy Lau, who has put these quirky and somewhat creepy earrings up for sale on her Etsy shop. Aside from ears, she’s got all sorts of jewelry like necklaces and rings featuring ears other human body parts, like mouths and men’s wieners (for lack of a better word), up for grabs.
The Little Third Ear earrings retail for £26 (~$41 USD) a pair.
[via LikeCool]
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