Award-winning team develops 3D-printed ears

20/02/25

Cutting-edge research at Sydney’s Chris O’Brien Lifehouse hospital is paving the way for the development of 3D-printed ears.

The research team, called NEW EARS (iNtegrated nEtWorks for Ear Additive Reconstructive Science), is led by Associate Professor Payal Mukherjee.

“This project has quite a few aspects to it, some quite ambitious regarding tissue regeneration, and some aspects are part of patient care now,” said A/Prof Mukherjee, who is an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon for adult and paediatric patients.

“Firstly, we look at a condition called microtia – essentially, children who are born without ears, usually on one side. There’s no ear canal either, so they are deaf.

“There’s a loss of form and function there. Without an ear, children can’t wear hearing aids, wearing glasses is hard, and there’s a bullying issue there as well.”

To treat microtia, the 3D-printed ear is used in reconstruction with a plastic surgeon, and at the same time A/Prof Mukherjee implants a hearing device in the patient.

“It’s a singular surgery, and six weeks after the surgery, the patient will see their local audiologist, and the hearing device is turned on,” she said.

“It’s an innovative model of care, and we’re challenging how things have been done in the past.”

The NEW EARS project was recently awarded the Science, Research and Development prize at the 2024 India-Australia Business and Community Alliance Awards. 

The award recognised University of Wollongong researcher Distinguished Professor Gordon Wallace and A/Prof Mukherjee, who led the team.

The award was presented at Parliament House in Canberra at an event opened by the Prime Minister.

“It was an honour to be in the room with so many leaders across diverse sectors who have made substantial contributions across the two countries,” A/Prof Mukherjee said.

“We thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for funding the start of our journey of collaboration with India and hope that this collaboration will foster further exchanges and fellowships between the two countries.”

A/Prof Mukherjee said the support from Chris O’Brien Lifehouse (COBLH) – a private, not-for-profit comprehensive cancer hospital with extensive research programs – had been invaluable.

“COBLH is the sort of place where it’s cool to be clever and it’s cool to be kind,” she said.

“It’s expected that everyone behaves with a high standard of professionalism and collaboration, from the admin to the nursing staff to the surgeons, and it’s the type of place that fosters clinical care and research.

“For Chris O’Brien himself, research was at the core of what he did, and the head and neck department is very academically orientated, and very supportive.

“There’s a cluster of clinical scientists that are rare as hens’ teeth – you might find one in the state, but you’ll find many of them have a foot in the door at COBLH.

“We all support each other’s research journeys and celebrate each other’s achievements, because we understand that committing to research is tiresome, often unfunded but necessary to achieve excellence in patient care.”

The next stage of the research project is focusing on 3D-printed living ears.

“When we eventually get bioprinted ears (3D-printed cartilage), we hope to be able to do a similar surgery (to the 3D-printed ear with hearing device implant),” A/Prof Mukherjee said.

“We can also look at what adult head and neck cancer patients need and see how we can help them with these technologies when they need re-section of their ear or their nose.

“We’re currently at the animal research phase, and we’re trying to forward plan to overcome the translational hurdles now so we can be ready for clinical trials in the shortest possible time.”