Otosclerosis is a condition where the stirrup calcifies and can't vibrate properly.

Doctors at Allegheny General Hospital are using a new way to restore hearing by repairing the middle-ear bones -- known as the hammer, anvil and stirrup -- that conduct sound into the cochlea, or inner ear.

Doctors have been able to replace the bones with artificial ones.

But it is better to reconstruct them, Brooks reports. They can do that now with a special cement.

"If we can use what the patient has it's better than replacing it," said Allegheny General Hospital neuro-otologist Dr. Douglas Chen

Sereno ear cement comes in a powder-like form, but once the seal is cracked and it's exposed to air, it becomes liquified. The texture is something like a watered down toothpaste. Once it's in this form, a doctor has four to five minutes to get it in the right place before it solidifies.

The ear cement is not a cure-all for all ear bone problems, Brooks reports, but it is going to be useful for millions of people who have one middle-ear bone that has deteriorated or decayed.