Now 4-year-old Kai Sherman was born with microtia, a congenital deformity of the external ear, including the absence of the ear canal in his case. His mother, who adopted Kai from a Chinese orphanage back in 2013 explained, that he was found as a 2-day-old baby on the side of the road.
When becoming aware of his outer appearance and missing ear, the Shermans turned to the doctors at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Anaplastologist Paul Tanner from the Prosthetics Department found a solution for Kai’s condition in 3D printing technology. After a 3D scan was taken from the left ear, it was turned into a 3D model ready to be printed out on a powder-based 3D printer. The 3D printed model was then used to create a mould for the final silicon version of the ear. In a final step this was then attached to Kai’s head with medical glue.
Watch the following video telling the story of Kai’s new ear:
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