A.1 Introduction Electrocochleography (ECochG) is the recording of stimulus-related potentials generated in the human cochlea and the auditory nerve. These potentials are the cochlear microphonics (CM), the summating potentials (SPs), and the compound action potential (CAP). There are three important…
First we briefly review the potential of gene therapy for hereditary hearing loss and for generating new hair cells in deaf ears. 13.1 Gene Therapy for Hereditary Hearing Loss About 15% of hereditary deafness is inherited as autosomal dominant nonsyndromic…
Persons who lack an auditory nerve (AN) cannot benefit from cochlear implants (CIs), but a prosthesis utilizing an electrode array implanted on the surface or in the cochlear nucleus (CN) can restore some hearing. Worldwide, more than 1200 persons (…
Cochlear implants are among the great success stories of modern medicine. Thirty years ago these devices provided little more than a sensation of sound and sound cadences—they were useful as an aid to lip-reading. In the 1980s, however, systems with…
Implantable hearing aids (IHAs) can roughly be divided in bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) and middle ear implants, both are mostly indicated for conductive hearing loss. However, middle ear implants are also a good solution for patients with sensorineural hearing loss…
What do people expect from hearing aids (HAs)? HAs are not—as many new users expect—the auditory equivalent of contact lenses or glasses that instantly restore all aspects of hearing. That would only apply for their use to compensate for a…
Humans hear long before they are born. The human cochlea is fully developed by 24 weeks of gestation. A blink-startle response can already be elicited (acoustically) at 24–25 weeks and is constantly present at 28 weeks. Hearing thresholds are 40…
Hearing loss occurs in children and in the elderly, in war veterans and factory workers, and in classical musicians and disc jockeys. Epidemiology is the study of factors such as hearing loss that affect the health and illness of populations…
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is most likely the dominant cause of acquired hearing loss. In turn, the fastest growing causes for NIHL is the use of personal listening devices (PLDs) and exposure to occupational noise including music performances. Extensive information…
Peripheral hearing loss comes in two broad types, conductive and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss results from deficits in the sound-conducting apparatus of the outer and middle ear. Problems such as fluid in the middle ear and immobility of the middle…