Russia Rolls Out Bioprinted Eardrum Implants at Scale
Hundreds of patients in Russia will soon regain their hearing thanks to mass adoption of bioprinted eardrum implants, marking a world-first in clinical practice.
Russia has begun the large-scale introduction of bioprinted eardrum implants. In the coming years, patients suffering from hearing loss will receive these implants, created with 3D bioprinters. Developed by the domestic company 3D Bioprinting Solutions, the technology has already restored hearing to dozens of people. Russia is the first country in the world where this breakthrough has reached readiness for widespread clinical use, a milestone that underscores the country’s high-tech medical potential.
According to Yusef Khesuani, managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, speaking at World Nuclear Week, the technology has moved from labs into real clinics over the past 18 months. It is now successfully applied at the Svirzhevsky Research Institute of Otorhinolaryngology. Thanks to this collaboration, forty people with severe hearing damage have regained their hearing.
Plans for expansion are ambitious. In partnership with Moscow’s Department of Health, hundreds of operations using bioprinted eardrums are scheduled over the next few years. Production capacity already allows for tens of thousands of implants annually.
A critical step ahead is to include this procedure in the national health insurance system, making it accessible to all who need it.
