AccScience Publishing / IJB / Volume 12 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026180166
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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Design and fabrication of a biomimetic artificial ear with enhanced mechanical properties

Sergey V. Zhirnov1 Aleksandr A. Levin1 Saida Sh. Karshieva1 Vasilina A. Zakharova1 Anzhelika-Mariia A. Burtseva1 Stanislav V. Petrov1 Polina A. Kovaleva1 Khassan M. Diab2 David N. Nazarian2 Vyacheslav V. Vinogradov2 Sergey S. Reshulsky2 Anton S. Machalov2 Natalya E. Manturova3 Egor O. Osidak4,5 Sergey P. Domogatsky6 Alexey V. Kovalev7 Vladimir A. Mironov1 Fedor S. Senatov1 Elizaveta V. Koudan1* Yusef D. Khesuani8 Nikolay A. Dayhes2
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1 Laboratory of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, National University of Science and Technology “MISIS”, Moscow, Russia
2 The National Medical Research Center for Otorhinolaryngology of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency of Russia, Moscow, Russia
3 JSC Plastic Surgery and Cosmetology Institute, Moscow, Russia
4 Imtek Ltd., Moscow, Russia
5 Dmitry Rogachev National Medical Research Center of Paediatric Haematology, Oncology and Immunology, Moscow, Russia
6 Laboratory of Immunochemistry, FSBI National Medical Research Centre of Cardiology Name after Academician E.I. Chazov of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
7 Priorov Central National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics, Moscow, Russia
8 Laboratory for Biotechnological Research “3D Bioprinting Solutions”, Moscow, Russia
IJB 2026, 12(3), 026180166 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJB026180166
Received: 30 April 2026 | Revised: 5 June 2026 | Accepted: 8 June 2026 | Published online: 8 June 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Microtia is a congenital malformation of the external part of the human ear. Recently, bioprinted auricles have been implanted in the first human patient. The remaining challenge in bioprinting of human ear is a post-implantation maintenance of bioprinted auricular construct size and shape. We hypothesize that the use of polylactide stiffeners will enable bioprinting of hybrid auricular constructs with stable post-implantation size and shape. Using the hybrid bioprinting method, auricular implants consisting of a custom-shaped polyurethane frame with polylactide stiffeners and filled with collagen hydrogel containing chondrocytes were printed. Mechanical testing of the implants was performed and it was shown that adding stiffeners to the frame increased the resistance of the structure to deformation. The implants were sutured under the temporal fascia in two mini-pigs for three months, after which a histologic and immunohistochemical study was performed. The formation of regenerated connective tissue with its own vascular network was observed, filling the entire volume of the implant. There was no evidence of inflammation or rejection. The implants maintained their size and shape after implantation. Thus, the in vivo evaluation of the auricular implant bioprinted by the described hybrid method gave satisfactory results in preclinical testing and the next logical step is a clinical translation.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Cartilage implant
Bioprinting
Thermoplastic polyurethane
Polylactide
Microtia
Funding
This study was conducted under the State Assignment for Higher Education Institutions on the project “Development and Clinical Testing of Laryngeal Cartilage Implants Fabricated Using Additive Manufacturing Technologies” (project code: FSME-2026-0018).
Conflict of interest
Vladimir A. Mironov serves as an Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing