Investigadores de la Universidad de Princeton han desarrollado mediante una impresora 3D una oreja de silicona combinada con celulas bovinas y otras partes biónicas que puede interpretar sonidos.
Los cables de la oreja funciona como una cóclea artificial. Así el modelo presenta una variación importante frente a los implantes cocleares, que nos permiten, desde ya, ir fantaseando con sus aplicaciones.

«In general, there are mechanical and thermal challenges with interfacing electronic materials with biological materials,» saidMichael McAlpine, an assistant professor ofmechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton and the project’s lead researcher. «Previously, researchers have suggested some strategies to tailor the electronics so that this merger is less awkward. That typically happens between a 2-D sheet of electronics and a surface of the tissue. However, our work suggests a new approach — to build and grow the biology up with the electronics synergistically and in a 3-D interwoven format.»