Iona RossBME 281

October 18, 2011

More than 600 million people worldwide (10%) suffer from hearing impairments

250 million people worldwide have moderate to severe hearing impairments

# of people with hearing loss in the U.S has doubled in the past 30 years

By 2015, it is predicted that an estimated 700 million people worldwide will suffer from hearing impairments

3 parts to the ear: External (pinna) – collects and directs sound

through ear canal to ear drum membrane Middle (2 major parts)

Ear drum – detects sounds – sends them to ossicles

Ossicles – amplify sounds – send them to inner ear

Inner (cochlea) Transmits sounds along auditory nerve to brain

via electrical stimulation

Conductive Sound does not reach inner ear

Sensori-neural Problems with transmission of signals from

cochlea to brain Abetted by Bionic Ear

19th century Count Volta and Duchenne of Boulogna

Stimulated hearing - electical stimulation 1957

Djomo and Eyries Implanted a single electrode attached to induction

coil into head of a patient – result: patient heard 1960s – 70s – multiple electrode output

best 1978

Dr. Graeme Clark inserted first Bionic Ear into Rod Saunders – worked!

Dr. Graeme Clark

Nucleus® 22 Cochlear Implant System 22 channels for current Template Made with help from Univ. of Australia, fed

government, and Nucleus – partnership Nucleus® 24 Cochlear Implant System

24 channels for current – more precise hearing

NRT technology

2 internal components Array of electrodes Transmitter-receiver

3 external components Microphone Speech processor Transmitting coil

NRT technology

1) MicrophoneDetects and sends sound tospeech processor

2) Speech ProcessorSound to electrical codeSent to transmitting coil via cable

3) Transmitting CoilRadio waves - through skin to implant

4) Implant packageDecodes entire signal Sends required amount of current - electrodes in cochlea

5) Electrodes in cochleaNerve endings stimulatedMessage sent to brain

TODAY FUTURE

1) Helps mainly those that have lost hearing b/c age2) Inconvenient device3) Unclear signals to brain at times4) Costly procedure

1) Young children with little or no hearing early on2) Entirely internal device (microphone first)3) Improve clarity4) Decrease cost via maybe requiring less audiologist appts?

Australian Academy of Science. “Cochlear Implants – wiring for sound”. 2009.<http://www.science.org.au/nova/029/029box03.htm>.

Traynor, Bob. “The Incidence of Hearing Loss Around the World” 6 April2011.<http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2011/incidence-of-hearing-loss-around-the-world/>

ThePowerhouseMuseum\<.http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/hsc/cochlear/the_cochlear.htm>.I USED SEVERAL ARTICLES AND PICTURES FROM THIS GENERAL SITE.

“Cochlear Implantation and Quality of Life in Deafness”. Damen, G. W. J. A.,Mylanus E.A.M, Snik A.F.M. Handbook of Disease Burdens and Quality of Life Measures.< http://www.springerlink.com/content/h1q077560x44v93l/>.