Operation in Naples was first of its kind in Italy.

A young girl in Naples has recovered her hearing thanks to complex surgery involving an implant of a middle ear temporal bone created using 3D-printing technology.

The innovative operation - the first in Italy to use 3D printing to custom-design a prosthesis of the missing bone - was carried out by surgeons at the Santobono-Pausillipon pediatric hospital in Naples.

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The girl, whose age was not released to the media, was suffering from aural atresia, a congenital condition relating to the malformation of the ear canal which can lead to severe hearing loss.

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The surgeons also made extensive use of image processing software in the pre-operative planning stages to establish their course of action with the utmost precision.