Have you heard? Pioneering ear surgeon ready for critics

Professor Mashudu Tshifularo, head of the otorhinolaryngology department at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, pioneered the world’s first middle ear transplant using a 3D-printed bone.

Image: Thapelo Morebudi/The Sunday Times Professor Mashudu Tshifularo, head of the otorhinolaryngology department at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, pioneered the world’s first middle ear transplant using a 3D-printed bone.

The University of Pretoria's Professor Mashuba Tshifularo has a strong message for his critics: “Let them come. No one has been doing it. This is unique.”

Tshifularo is expecting criticism from his academic colleagues for being the first in the world to transplant a 3D-printed bone into the middle ear of a patient with hearing loss.

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