Credit: Graphic adapted by M.E. Newman, Johns Hopkins Medicine, from original artwork by Audra Geras
Using two assistive devices invented by current and former Johns Hopkins Medicine residents, plastic surgeons can follow the procedure seen in the graphic to create a replacement ear from rib cartilage for people born with a malformed or missing ear. Compared with traditional reconstruction techniques, the novel system enables a replacement ear to be fashioned faster, more simply and accurately, without wasting valuable tissue, and with the ability to “custom fit” the new organ to each patient.