Titanium ear bone replacement restores hearing for young man

Doctors at the Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, performed surgery to replace a patient's ear bones with titanium to restore his hearing.

Anh Quan, a 29-year-old man, visited the hospital after experiencing a gradual decline in his hearing over nearly 10 years. Professor Tran Phan Chung Thuy, Director of the Otolaryngology Center, diagnosed him with bilateral otosclerosis.

This condition occurs when bone tissue around the stapes, the smallest bone in the human body, becomes hardened and stops vibrating. Because the bone cannot move, it fails to transmit sound waves to the inner ear. The medical team performed surgery to remove the hardened stapes and replace it with a synthetic prosthesis made of pure titanium. The titanium implant measures 0.5x4 mm.

Doctors chose this material because it is lightweight, hard, and biocompatible, allowing it to vibrate and send sound signals to the brain. The team operated on the right ear first and then on the left ear three months later. Following the procedures, Anh Quan reported significant improvement in his hearing. One month after the surgery, he could clearly hear sounds during conversations. Professor Chung Thuy noted that otosclerosis is often missed because it progresses slowly and resembles normal aging.

She advised people with progressive hearing loss or tinnitus to seek early testing, including high-resolution CT scans, to prevent the condition from damaging the inner ear.