Development of personalized auricular orthoses based on histological evaluation

Research Project

Project/Area Number	18K17471
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Basic Section 58050:Fundamental of nursing-related
Research Institution	Kanazawa Medical University
Principal Investigator	MIYANAGA Aiko 金沢医科大学, 看護学部, 講師 (80782367)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
Budget Amount *help	¥4,290,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥990,000) Fiscal Year 2021: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000) Fiscal Year 2020: ¥260,000 (Direct Cost: ¥200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥60,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Keywords	耳介矯正装具 / 組織学的評価 / 耳介形態異常 / 先天性耳介奇形 / 耳介軟骨 / 先天性耳介 / 可塑性樹脂 / 耳介軟骨厚 / パーソナライズ / 組織学
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The purpose of this study was to develop a safe auricular orthosis for correcting congenital auricular malformations. The first step was to verify suitable materials for the orthosis, and the second step was to verify whether the corrected auricular cartilage morphology could be maintained. The rabbit auricular region was fixed with plastic resin, and after 3 months, the auricular cartilage, epidermis, and subcutaneous tissue were thickened and vascular growth was observed, indicating that fixation does not inhibit cartilage growth. The shape of the auricular part after the release of the fixed folding brace gradually returned to its original shape after the release of the brace, but there was no change after 3 weeks. This indicates that plastic resin is suitable as a corrective orthosis and that fixation should be performed for at least 3 weeks.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	先天性の耳介形態異常には、主として折れ耳や埋没耳などがあり、160人に1人の割合で発生する。このことから、現在日本には80万人の耳介形態異常の患者が存在すると推定される。保存的に治療する場合は、矯正装具を用い固定する必要があるが、耳介部への固定が難しく外れやすい欠点があり、外れないよう強く固定すると軟骨形成を阻害する危険性がある。本研究において、可塑性樹脂は強く固定しても軟骨の増生を阻害しない安全な素材であること、そして固定には少なくとも3週間以上は必要であることが明らかとなった。これにより、先天奇形の児の治療・ケアにおいての組織が気的な資料を提示することができた。