Health Matters

Meet Dr. Mashudu Tshifularo The First Man To Cure Deafness Through Surgery, A South African

Mashudu Tshifularo is a medical practitioner, an educator and a specialist. Born June 18, 1964 in South Africa and he’s also a pastor who has written so many books.

Dr. Mashudu led the first ever 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.

Using a 3-D printer, Tshifularo printer implants that replace 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 in Pretoria 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.

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