Can tissue engineering provide a cheap and convenient alternative to surgery for eardrum repair?
In the most severe cases, a ruptured eardrum can require surgery to put it right, but tissue-engineering techniques might provide a much simpler solution.
The eardrum, or tympanic membrane, forms the interface between the outside world and the delicate bony structures of the middle ear — the ossicles — that conduct sound vibrations to the inner ear. At just a fraction of a millimetre thick and held under tension, the membrane is perfectly adapted to transmit even the faintest of vibrations. But the qualities that make the eardrum such a good conductor of sound come at a price: fragility. Burst eardrums are a major cause of conductive hearing loss — when sounds can't pass from the outer to the inner ear.
Most burst eardrums are caused by infections or trauma. The vast majority heal on their own in about ten days, but for a small proportion of people the perforation fails to heal naturally. These chronic ruptures cause conductive hearing loss and increase the risk of middle ear infections, which can have serious complications.
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| Marching to a new beat -David Holmes |
Repairing the eardrum: The sound of self-healing
Source: Nature
