Hearing News Watch

MELBOURNE — Australia’s HEARing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), a collaborative group of 21 internationally-recognized organizations, announced on August 24th promising new research suggesting slowly released drugs to the inner ear via electrodes may improve cochlear implant performance. According to HEARing CRC CEO, Professor Robert Cowan, research using an electrode array that slowly releases anti-inflammatory drugs into the cochlea following cochlear implantation

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The Hearing Instrument Manufacturers’ Software Association (HIMSA), maker of the popular hearing aid programming interface Noah, has announced the upcoming launch of what they are dubbing as the “new wireless programming standard” for programming Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) enabled hearing aids.   The new NoahlinkTM Wireless programming device was created with guidance and cooperation of major hearing aid manufacturers,

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — Babies exposed to the Zika virus in the womb should have their hearing tested and monitored regularly, say the authors of a study published today in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  The study evaluated nearly 70 infants in Brazil from November 2015 to May 2016.  All the babies had documented microcephaly and confirmed Zika infection. Sixteen

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), along with a pediatric otolaryngologist at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, have developed a device that could significantly improve the ability of doctors to accurately diagnose ear infections (otitis media). The device, which is said to ultimately function much like a typical otoscope, utilizes shortwave infrared light to penetrate deeper into the

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — The morphing of medical devices with consumer electronics continues as, according to a recent report in Med Device Online, Apple has filed a patent for a wearable device capable of collecting electrocardiographic (EKG) signals from various points on the body. This patent may lend credibility to rumors surfacing in early August that Apple was working on a

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — Having come under fire in recent years over the country’s inconsistent newborn hearing screening program nationwide, Canada’s province of Manitoba has announced that it will officially expand its program to make screenings available in all regional health authorities, at 13 healthcare facilities, on September 1 of this year. This week’s announcement of an official date comes one year

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Major hearing aid manufacturer GN Hearing (GN ReSound), announced this past week in its Q2 Interim Report, to the surprise of many industry insiders, that it has lost its contract with Costco as the supplier of its Kirkland Signature-branded hearing aids. The company, which has managed to continue increasing its market share across the industry in recent years,

WASHINGTON, DC — Noise induced hearing loss continues to be a public health condition of significant magnitude.  According to the National Institutes of Health, 22 million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. In 2015, U.S. businesses paid more than $1.5 million in penalties for not protecting workers from noise. Further, an estimated $242 million is

Doctors are warning parents about the potential dangers posed by popular expanding bead toys, such as Orbeez. According to an article published this month in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,  super-absorbent polymer bead toys that expand when placed in water can cause serious ear injuries in children. The super-absorbent polymer balls are incredibly small and can expand up to 300 times their original

LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA – Researchers at the University of Louisiana have discovered that sea anemone proteins can repair damaged mouse cochlear hair cells. Their results were published this week in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Sea anemones, which are able to detect passing prey using their vibration-sensitive hair cells covering their tentacles, have the amazing capacity to rebuild and restore parts of their