Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

Hallym University Medical Center(HUMC) and the Rural Development Administration(RDA) announced on December 8, 2009 that they have successfully developed materials for artificial eardrums using silk protein from cocoon for the first time in the world. They applied for a patent in five countries including the U.S., China, Japan and Europe. The scientific advancement will be published soon in an international journal, the Wound Repair and Regeneration.

The artificial eardrum patches made of silk prove their superiority in biocompatibility, regeneration and resistance to bacteria and fungus during the healing process. It said that the surface of the patch is highly transparent, very smooth and of adequate hardness and thickness to treat perforated eardrums. The thickness of the patch is 100 micrometers, which is roughly the same as natural eardrums, while the hardness of 10 MPa makes it easy to place the material into the damaged ear. It is expected that simple operation, reasonable cost, better regeneration of the eardrums would not only benefit the local farmers but also help reduce medial expenses.

Dr. Hae-Ran Lee, HUMC President, said, "Compared to a paper patch, this silk eardrum has about 137 percent of regeneration rate. It is almost the same as the normal eardrum."

By Younghee Han, Int'l Operations Team, HUMC