South African Doctor Makes History With World’s First 3D-Printed Middle Ear Implant

"What sparked this innovative idea was research and also believing that things can be done better. And, also reading articles and looking at other fields of medicine. ENT learns a lot from other fields, like urology. You know, where the urologist does use the snare, like when they castrate the bull. That's what we use to take out the tonsils. So we learn and paint and practice. Then, I look at orthopedics. I said, Wow, orthopedics. Now they're doing proper hip, proper knee, proper ankle. Why can't I steal this idea into the ENT? So, I was researching and looking for a solution every time. There are many types of prostheses that have been there in ENT, in this field in excess of almost a thousand or so. Because everyone comes with an old design. But the thinking is the same. Because most of them are not designed by doctors, they are designed by technicians and are given to their doctors. And now once I got into the 3D technology. And in this industrial revolution, it became clear that nobody can talk about 3D and never mention my name because I popularized it," Professor Tshifularo says.