South African Pioneer Mashudu Tshifularo Brings New Hope in the Fight to End Deafness

He successfully performed the world’s first middle-ear transplant using 3D-printed bones. Now, Professor Mashudu Tshifularo is aiming to bring new hope to 45 hearing-impaired patients through his dream of ‘making deafness history’.

Pretoria, South Africa (15 May 2026) – We’re all born with a dream and a purpose, and for Professor Mashudu Tshifularo, both are deeply rooted in making deafness a thing of the past.

His name may ring a bell, as Tshifularo is the brilliant otolaryngologist who successfully led the world’s first middle-ear transplant using 3D-printed bones made from titanium. The patient was Thabo*, whose middle-ear bones (the ossicles) had been injured in an accident, causing almost total hearing loss until he had the transplant in March 2019.

At a Roundtable event held by the University of Pretoria (UP) in April this year to announce the launch of the upcoming clinical trials Tshifularo will be leading, a beaming Thabo* confirmed he had regained his hearing after the transplant and had continued to enjoy excellent hearing ever since.

Also, a respected professor at UP’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Tshifularo, is now leading a ground-breaking procedure to restore hearing in 45 patients with conductive hearing loss from middle-ear damage.

The announcement of the trials, due to begin within weeks at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, comes after several obstacles in obtaining all the necessary regulatory, ethical and licensing clearances, including from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA).

“Today is a culmination that I never thought would come. There was a time when I cried, there was a time when I was very depressed, there was a time when I nearly gave up, but something inside me told me to remain steady,” Tshifularo said at the Roundtable.

Since performing that first transplant, Prof Tshifularo and his team have spent years developing, refining, testing and patenting the titanium material and implants now set to be used in the clinical trials.

UP’s engineering partner on the project, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), led the materials and prototype development, while HH Industries manufactures the implants using 3D-printing technology, and Marcus Medical is supplying the robotic technology for the surgery. Seed funding for the project was provided by the Motsepe Foundation.

Prof Tshifularo is Ready to Change Lives

Now that it is all systems go for this all-South African collaborative effort, Prof Tshifularo and his team aim to perform this life-changing surgery in the next 12 months on all 45 patients who have expressed interest in participating in the clinical trials.

The team will then focus on publishing their research and training future researchers and medical teams so that the work can be amplified far and wide for the benefit of humanity.

The procedure itself takes about three hours and uses advanced robotics to remove the damaged middle-ear bones and replace them with the 3D printed titanium bones.

This is minimally invasive, carries significantly less risk than conventional procedures and leaves minimal scarring. The titanium used to manufacture the ossicles is biocompatible, meaning it can be introduced into the ear without causing harmful reactions.

“My dream is to make deafness history,” Prof Tshifularo said, noting that an estimated two billion youth are living with undiagnosed, mostly noise-induced hearing loss, which would become a severe problem in the next 20 to 25 years. Hearing loss is also common among the world’s rapidly ageing population.

The University’s Vice-Principal of Student Life, Prof Themba Mosia, praised Tshifuaro’s work as innovation that will ultimately transform the lives of many people, including newborn babies born with congenital middle-ear defects

“It exemplifies the spirit of innovation and collaboration at the university, combined with the deep medical expertise needed to restore hearing.”

Sources: University of Pretoria

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