Auditory nerve implant could drastically benefit deaf individuals

Early last year, gurus at the University of Michigan were devising a newfangled type of cochlear implant, but now it looks like the Wolverines are more interested in a fresh auditory nerve implant that is being dubbed "a superior alternative" to the (now) old fashioned option. The uber-thin electrode array would purportedly "transmit a wide range of sounds to the brain," and could give profoundly and severely deaf people the ability to "to hear low-pitched sounds common in speech, converse in a noisy room, identify high and low voices, and appreciate music." Researchers on the project are convinced that this technology trumps cochlear implants in every way, and while preliminary patents have already been filed, it'll still be nearly a decade at best before these things can invade human ears en masse.

[Via Physorg]

[mccloudm @ Jun 10th 2007 9:02AM]

"to hear low-pitched sounds common in speech,"

Then the deaf are still safe from Fran Drescher.

[Revrant2394 @ Jun 10th 2007 1:48PM]

Bahaha! *rolling on the floor*

[carlo @ Jun 10th 2007 9:30AM]

Hey, leave her outta this.

[magicvash @ Jun 10th 2007 10:00AM]

Can't wait until people start calling this genocide.

[Tor I. Pettersen @ Jun 10th 2007 10:34AM]

Awesome :-)

More and more, we're learning how to feed information directly to the brain. And hearing is no simple matter. There are more nerves from the brain to the ear than from the ear to the brain. So there is more information giving feedback to the ear about how to interpret sounds than traveling to the brain with actual sound information.

Combine this with eye implants that already are giving some form of sight back to the blind, http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/16/researchers-set-to-test-bionic-eye-implant/ , last I heard they've reached 60 pixels, a vast upgrade from the previously available 16, which was enough for subjects to see the difference between a cup, a plate and a knife.

The same is being done for touch, to restore this sense to patients with prostheses, and to a lesser degree with smell and taste.

Add to this the new kinds of artifical muscles being made ( http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/07/nc-state-researchers-uncover-muscle-mimicking-fibers/ ), and being disabled in any way in the near future will be far less limiting than it is today.

And, for those of us who arn't...
Direct Neural Interface Gaming and VR experiences approaching full reality may be less than a decade away... And you thought WoW was addictive.

- Tor
http://www.gadgetsieve.com

[asdsa @ Jun 10th 2007 11:45AM]

no matter how 'uber-thin' the electrode array is, this method still destroys all residual hearing a person has and replaces it with an (inferior) electronic version.

and what the hell is this shit about giving deaf people the ability to 'appreciate music'?! you don't think deaf people can appreciate music?

[sfdsfs @ Jun 10th 2007 11:47AM]

...'or converse in a noisy room'?! ever hear of a little thing called sign language?

[David Coppit @ Jun 10th 2007 1:08PM]

As a point of reference, current cochlear implants can help people hear voices just fine. I'd say the tech is 90% there for voice today, because voice just isn't that demanding. In noisy environments, I suspect 2 ears are better than 1 ear with a new type of implant that takes you to 95% there. Also, the current technology is not yet exhausted. Advanced Bionics just came out with their Fidelity 120 strategy, which simulates 120 electrodes for stimulating the auditory nerve, compared to the 20-ish (non-simulated) electrodes common for most devices.

It sounds like this new type of implant is more invasive... I think we may be approaching the limit of the cost/benefit ratio.

[BTW, let me preemptively mock any deaf culture people who might post: "OMG you are killing your child by giving him glasses! He'll resent you when he grows up for cutting him off from the community of people who are nearsighted!"]

[Sean Harrison @ Jun 10th 2007 1:17PM]

You'll see this technology pick up the same argument that plagues cochlear implants today. It is more an issue of culture than anything else. On one side, the hearing world believes that this type of technology, especially when provided to young children, fixes a problem that will adversely affect the rest of the child’s life. On the other side, the deaf community feels that such people would be fine if taught sign language and these types of implants are tantamount to cultural genocide. I don’t know who is right, but I’d bet that this, genetics and similar biotech will be hot issues long after I'm gone. Currently, I think many people, myself included, fall somewhere in the middle on the issue.

Unfortunately, implanted individuals are the ones caught in the middle. Deaf communities may ostracize them as traitors and hearing communities may still regard them as disabled (cochlear implants, while providing some hearing, do not give anywhere near the range achieved naturally). Hopefully, time will provide a solution that everyone can agree with, one way or another.

[Josh @ Jun 10th 2007 4:43PM]

If the 'deaf community' would really regard a person with implants as a 'traitor' and ostracize them, then I have to say that there are a lot more jackass deaf people than I previously was aware of. Isn't the equal treatment of a human being - regardless of defects or impairments - one of the cornerstones of a civilized society? Should we have stopped the abolishment of slavery because it would have destroyed the 'slave culture'?

Has the victimization culture in America really gone so far?

[aaron allen @ Jun 10th 2007 5:41PM]

drastically is the wrong adverb here - it implies violence or severity - you should use dramatically.

[R. C. @ Jun 11th 2007 2:29PM]

Oh no, someone wants to hear sounds. GENOCIDE!!!

[Mike @ Jun 11th 2007 7:21PM]

Read about this on IEEE.org it is some really incredible science, with no effect on the surrounding cells...

[Steven @ Jun 11th 2007 11:44PM]

I've been almost completely deaf in my left ear since I was 10 (I'm now 24). I've never heard about deaf communities ostracizing people for getting hearing aids. I've looked at hearing aids in the past and none would be able to help me, but the second I find one that can I will make sure I get it, and I won't give a damn what ANY community may think of me for doing that. It's ridiculous that this is even an issue to some people.

[KRH-ONE @ Jun 19th 2007 8:47PM]

Have any of you sad fucks ever met someone who was deaf? Or do you just mock them from afar, as though they were retarded and couldn't understand you anyway?

People like YOU are the reason some in the deaf community would rather maintain a separate existence. It's hard to blame them.