Low-power microchip may open door to a cochlear implant with no exterior parts
SAN FRANCISCO—What cochlear implant wearers have long yearned for—an entirely implantable system without the external transmitter, wire, microphone, and battery that are now standard—appears to have moved a step closer to reality this week. In a paper to be presented February 11 at the IEEE International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Francisco, researchers describe…
Read MoreChildren’s short-term hearing loss can cause permanent damage, study suggests
BOSTON—It’s long been known that transitory hearing loss in childhood can have permanent effects on a child’s development. The temporary conductive hearing problems that so many children suffer due to ear infections may interfere with their ability to learn and develop communication skills, with results that often continue long after the hearing loss has ended.…
Read MoreResearchers regenerate hair cells in deafened mice and improve their hearing
By David H. Kirkwood BOSTON—When scientists finally discover a cure for sensorineural hearing loss, the key that unlocks the door for them will probably be some mechanism to stimulate the regeneration of sensory hair cells in the human cochlea. The toll that age, noise, ototoxic medicines, and infections take on these hair cells is the…
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