Individually Fitted Hearing Aid Device Manufactured Using Rapid Prototyping Based on Ear CT. A Case Report.

Rapid prototyping is the technology of automatic freeform fabrication of physical objects from virtual CAD (computer aided design) models. For medical objects the models may be created using data from CT, MR or rotational angiography. We descriobe the case of a 83-year-old woman with essential bilateral hearing impairment as the effect of chronic otitis media. An individually fitted hearing aid was produced for the patient using stereolithography technology and vacuum casting based on data obtained during ear CT. Rapid prototyping may help in manufacturing individually adjusted biomedical prostheses, reducing the time of device production and improving its fitting.