• Question: if someone is deaf will we be able to rebuild the inside of the ear

    Asked by harrypotterunicorn23 to Alejandra, Ana, Daniel, Sophie, Todd, Zach on 14 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Alejandra Aranceta

      Alejandra Aranceta answered on 14 Mar 2017:

      Hey!

      Yes, but you would need to know exactly why this person is deaf, it may mean that building the inner ear wouldn’t bring the hearing back…

    • Photo: Daniel Morse

      Daniel Morse answered on 15 Mar 2017:

      Great question… there are a number of reasons a person could be deaf, so you may no need to rebuild the whole inner ear, so it really depends on what the main problem is.

      Some things we cant do yet..but thats not to say in the future we wont be able to do them..there are lots of very intricate bits of the inner ear, so it would be quite difficult though.

    • Photo: Ana Gallego

      Ana Gallego answered on 15 Mar 2017:

      I guess it depends on why the person is deaf, like Alejandra and Daniel said.

      I am not an expert, to be fair.

      I have heard of tympanoplasty, the reconstruction of the tympanic membrane (eardrum) but I am not sure doctors are capable of even more.

      Worth researching about it, that’s for sure!

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