A surgeon in South Africa just made the deaf hear again.
With bones that came out of a printer.
Professor Mashudu Tshifularo walked into Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria in March 2019 and did something no one on the planet had ever pulled off.
He replaced a man's shattered middle ear bones with custom titanium versions printed from a 3D scan of his own anatomy.
The patient? A 35-year-old who lost his hearing in a car crash.
The fix? The hammer, anvil, and stirrup. Those three tiny ossicles that turn vibrations in the air into the sound of your kid laughing or your favourite song playing.
Tshifularo printed perfect replicas, slid them in through an endoscope, and closed up in roughly an hour and a half.
No giant incision. No facial nerve damage. No scarring across the side of the skull.
Just a camera, a printed bone, and a man who could suddenly hear again.
The technique works on anyone. Babies born without functional middle ears. Adults wrecked by infection or trauma. Pensioners losing their world to silence.
Because the implants are scanned and printed per patient, they snap into place like they were always meant to be there. And titanium is biocompatible, so the body doesn't reject them.
By 2026, the procedure has moved into expanded clinical trials with dozens more patients lined up.
One man, one printer, one quiet revolution in how humans get their hearing back.
Source: BBC Science Focus
@mcuban@DwightPowell33@DwightsFace I remember when Jeremy Lin was getting hit in the head all the time and just getting regular fouls that should be flagrants.
@bballbreakdown I agree, it’s like beggars can’t be choosers. If you’re a good shooter, and have the confidence to take a shot on a decent look, take it! You might not get another chance or a better chance!
This look was pretty decent, although the spin made it a harder shot.
@bballbreakdown I remember he had a left handed (?) one on Dwight Howard (rockets). I recall it hit the backboard even higher than this one. It was just majestic in slo motion. Incredible stuff.
@JoeVirayNBA I heard backscreen called several times before curry even started to set it, they knew it was coming and curry’s defender still didn’t help off it
@bballbreakdown The other play where curry boxed him out and then Marcus just ran into him and also looked like threw his hands over his shoulders like a horse collar play and they call a foul on curry? I didn’t understand that one
@bballbreakdown Marcus Smart doing his shenanigans again! Feels like for every play he is being extra that helps his team he also does one that hurts them too.
Luka looked really mad and walking up to Buddy after Buddy hit a 3. I wonder if buddy said something to him or maybe Luka just misheard something from someone else. It didn’t seem to escalate so maybe just a misunderstanding
@HaterReport_ Looked like a regular hard foul to prevent an easy basket to me, why was it called a flagrant? Maybe she could have wrapped her up instead of trying to slap the ball out of her hands, I suppose would be the gentlest way to do it