Latest Inner ear Stories

Hearing is precious. Without it, patients find it difficult to fully connect with the world around them. The SoundBiteTM Hearing System is the world’s first non-surgical and removable hearing device to use the well-established principle of bone conduction to imperceptibly transmit sound via the teeth. SoundBite allows patients with single sided deafness or conductive hearing loss to rejoin the conversation of life. San Mateo, California (PRWEB) October 21, 2011 Sonitus Medical...

Machine's magnetic field pushes fluid in the inner ear's balance organ A team of researchers says it has discovered why so many people undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially in newer high-strength machines, get vertigo, or the dizzy sensation of free-falling, while inside or when coming out of the tunnel-like machine. In a new study published in Current Biology online on Sept. 22, a team led by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests that MRI's strong magnet pushes on fluid...

Loud noise, especially repeated loud noise, is known to cause irreversible damage to the hair cells inside the cochlea and eventually lead to deafness. In mammals this is irreversible, however both birds and fish are able to re-grow the damaged hair cells and restore hearing. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience shows that growth hormone is involved in this regeneration in zebrafish. Researchers from Western Kentucky University and the University...

Novel device with rock 'n' roll roots may protect listeners from potential dangers of personal listening devices and hearing aidsEngineers investigating "listener fatigue"--the discomfort and pain some people experience while using in-ear headphones, hearing aids and other devices that seal the ear canal from external sound--have found not only what they believe is the cause, but also a potential solution.In two separate papers and a presentation at the 130th Audio Engineering...

Research shows that vibrations in the inner ear continue even after a sound has ended, perhaps serving as a kind of mechanical memory of recent sounds. In addition to contributing to the understanding of the complex process of sound perception, the results may shed light on other fascinating aspects of the auditory system, such as why some gaps between sounds are too brief to be perceived by the human ear. The study is published by Cell Press in the April 5th issue of Biophysical Journal.The...

SEATTLE, Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In collaboration with scientists and clinicians from the University of California Los Angeles, scientists from Sound Pharmaceuticals have found p27Kip1 to be expressed in the adult and aged human inner ear including the auditory and vestibular sensory organs. In the adult human inner ear, the pattern of p27Kip1 expression was restricted to the nuclei of supporting cells in the organ of Corti, the sensory organ that controls hearing, and the utricle and...

Success could spur new treatment approach for millions of people who suffer vestibular problemsA University of Washington Medical Center patient on Thursday, Oct. 21, will be the world's first recipient of a device that aims to quell the disabling vertigo associated with Meniere's disease.The UW Medicine clinicians who developed the implantable device hope that success in a 10-person surgical trial of Meniere's patients will lead to exploration of its usefulness against other common balance...

The old saying, "never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear," couldn't be truer for a patient who experienced vertigo and severe hearing loss after a cotton swab perforated her eardrum and damaged her inner ear.But what makes this patient's case unique is that otolaryngologists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit were not only able to alleviate her vertigo with surgery, but restore her hearing "“ an extremely rare occurrence."This case is rare because the goal of...

The Earthquake Machine at Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, has been used in groundbreaking research by vision scientists to confirm that instead of working in isolation, our visual and middle-ear systems work together, to give us an improved sense of balance.Led by Dr Mark Edwards and Dr Michael Ibbotson, chief investigators in The Vision Centre and researchers at the Australian National University, this research has opened up various opportunities to future research,...

GUMC researchers: If a healthy noise cancellation system is restored within the brain, it may be possible to treat the disorder -- the most common auditory disorder in adultsAbout 40 million people in the U.S. today suffer from tinnitus, an irritating and sometimes debilitating auditory disorder in which a person "hears" sounds, such as ringing, that don't actually exist. There isn't a cure for what has long been a mysterious ailment, but new research suggests there may, someday, be...