May 2, 2013

The Terminator may actually be able to exist--or at least part of him. Scientists have actually succeeded in printing a bionic ear that can "hear" radio frequencies far beyond the range of normal human capabilities.

The ear looks a bit like a pink piece of ear-shaped Jell-O with a curling yellow wire sticking out of it. Yet it's a feat that shouldn't be ignored. The researchers created the new device in order to explore an efficient and versatile means to merge electronics with tissue. In order to accomplish this, they used 3D printing to "print" cells and nanoparticles. They then used a cell culture to combine a small coil antenna with the cartilage, creating the bionic ear.

Although the researchers have made several advances in recent years involving the use of small-scale medical sensors and antenna, this is the first time they've tried to create a fully functional organ. This ear doesn't only replicate a human ability, though; it also extends it with the use of electronics.

Actually creating the ear wasn't that easy, though. Standard tissue engineering involves seeding types of cells, such as those that form ear cartilage, onto a scaffold of a polymer material called a hydrogel. Think of the scaffold as the pan while the cells are the cake batter. Yet as most people know, cake pans have their limits, and the shape of an ear is particularly difficult to reconstruct. In fact, ear reconstruction is one of the most difficult problems in the field of plastic surgery.

In order to get around this issue, the researchers turned to 3D printing, which allowed them to use a computer-assisted design to conceive objects as arrays of thin slices. The researchers then combined the antenna electronics with tissue within the highly complex topology of a human ear. The wires can actually connect to electrodes and theoretically be used to restore or enhance human hearing.

"The design and implementation of bionic organs and devices that enhance human capabilities, known as cybernetics, has been an area of increasing scientific interest," the researchers wrote in an article. "This field has the potential to generate customized replacement parts for the human body, or even create organs containing capabilities beyond what human biology ordinarily provides."

Yet while this ear has quite a bit of potential, it will be quite some time before it can actually be used in a human patient. Even so, the ability to create artificial organs could help researchers do everything from allowing the deaf to hear to replacing failing organs.

The findings are published in the journal Nano Letters.