Landmark surgery ends 10 year silence

Last week, news broke of a pioneering transplant that successfully restored the voice of a woman who had lost the ability to breathe on her own and had not spoken for 11 years.

Brenda Jensen lost the use of her voicebox during surgery in 1999. But in October last year, an international team of surgeons replaced her larynx, thyroid gland and trachea in an 18-hour procedure in California. Following two months of rehabilitation, during which the nerves have been regenerating, she has learnt to speak again.

UCL have released a rather nice video of the story.

The techniques used were developed by Professor Martin Birchall, a visiting professor of otolaryngology at UC Davis and then at the University of Bristol. Professor Birchall’s work was funded principally by the Wellcome Trust — the first time that a surgeon had received Trust funding.

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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.