Total Reconstruction of the Auricle: Our Experiences on Indications and Recent Techniques

Figure 14

Auricular tissue engineering. Pluripotent stem cells are chondrally differentiated or alternatively autologous chondrocytes are isolated from an auricular biopsy (e.g., from the concha (red) or auricular remnants). After expansion, they are seeded onto an auricular-shaped scaffold and cultivated in 3D culture. Afterwards, the cultured auricle can be implanted. For better results, neovascularisation is recommended [44]. Figure modified after Bichara et al. [45].