DECRYPTION – Whether deafness is acquired or present from birth, this technology restores hearing abilities… but does not yet offer perfect hearing.
More than 1 billion young people aged 12 to 34 worldwide are at risk of hearing loss because they have the annoying habit of listening to music at too high a volume, reported last week a study published in the BMJ Global Health. These dangerous listening practices irreversibly affect the hair cells present in the cochlea, a part of the inner ear in which sounds are transformed into electrical signals before being transmitted to the brain. Eventually, a number may suffer from mild to moderate deafness and require a hearing aid. In young people with a vulnerable ear or a pre-existing hearing problem, greater deafness could develop, and surgical placement of a cochlear implant may be necessary.
This device imagined more than thirty years ago has revolutionized the care of people with profound to severe deafness. By directly stimulating the auditory nerve using an electrode…
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