Percutaneous healing of clinical tympanic membrane implants.

Percutaneous healing is plagued by materials compatibility problems, epidermal reactions, and mechanical factors. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the effects of one of these factors while controlling the others. The tympanic membrane is an implant site where mechanical factors are minimized. Titanium has been shown to be a very histocompatible material, although no reports of the histology of percutaneous titanium implants exist. This study reports on aspects of the epidermal and connective tissue healing around titanium tympanic membrane implants that were explanted from human subjects. The lack of inflammation and the direct adherence of the tissues substantiate the materials compatibility and the absence of mechanical factors. Tissue healing patterns appear to reach an equilibrium which is suitable for the long-term existence of the percutaneous device. This implant location provides a suitable model for studying the tissue reactions to various percutaneous materials.