Eardrum regeneration: membrane repair
A burst eardrum — like a stubbed toe — is a common injury. Although ruptures can cause pain and hearing loss, most will heal naturally. For those that don’t, however, the only option is specialist surgery, but this is expensive and carries risks. It would be far better to try to stimulate the eardrum to heal itself, which is what tissue-engineering researchers think they have achieved.
For more on eardrum regeneration from nature.com, see
nature.com/subjects/inner-ear
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