Meet the first doctor to cure deafness

Professor Mashudu Tshifularo is a South African educator and Otolaryngologist. He led the first team in the world to use 3D-printed bones for reconstructive middle ear implants in 2019 at the University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital. As a lay pastor, he has also published several books.

Using a 3-D printer, Tshifularo created implants that replaced the ossicles: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes) during middle ear reconstructive surgery, or tympanoplasty, that are more affordable compared to the traditional titanium implants.

Tshifularo is the head of the Department of Ear, Nose, Throat, Head and Neck Surgery at the Otorhinolaryngology Department of the University of Pretoria, and started developing this technology during his PhD studies.

He and his team at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital performed the first transplant on 13 March 2019. The endoscopic procedures lasted approximately 2 hours. The first patient was a 40-year-old with accidental trauma damage and the other was a 62-year-old born with a middle ear issue and a history of failed interventions.