Scientists based in Switzerland and South Africa have devised a biophysical methodology that may help to overcome hearing deficits, and potentially remedy even substantial hearing loss. The authors propose a method of retuning functioning regions of the ear to recognize frequencies originally associated with damaged areas.
Hearing loss is an increasingly important problem in societies of growing average age. The conventional hearing-aid and cochlear implant technology have only been partially successful in recreating the experience of the fully functioning ear.
A possible reason for the lack of success could be because the cochlea—the hearing sensor—must be fully embedded into the corto-cochlear feedback loop. While recent artificial cochleas have been developed that are extremely close to the performance of the biological one, the integration of artificial cochleas into the loop is an extremely difficult micro-surgical task.
In an attempt to circumvent the problem, the authors investigated the biophysics and biomechanics of the natural sensor, and have identified modifications that would enable the remapping of frequencies where the cochlea malfunctions to neighboring intact cochlear areas.
The remapping is performed in such a way that no auditory information is lost and the tuning capabilities of the cochlea can be fully used.
The findings show that biophysically realistic modifications could remedy even substantial hearing loss, and with a recently designed electronic cochlea at hand, the changes in the perception of hearing could be predicted.
The surgical procedures needed to establish the authors’ suggested biophysical corrections have not yet been developed. Recently developed lasers could play a prominent role in these surgical procedures, similar to their role in correcting deficits for the eye.
[Source: Science Daily]
