In the News
First Successful Use of Penetrating Microelectrodes in Human Brainstem Restores Some Hearing to Deaf Patients
Los Angeles - January 15, 2004 --Physicians of the House Ear Clinic have successfully implanted the first two patients with a Penetrating Electrode Auditory Brainstem Implant (PABI), a revolutionary prosthetic device that is currently in clinical trials. The PABI is based on cochlear implant technology, but extends the utility to stimulating the hearing portions of the brain to restore some degree of hearing function to people deafened by bilateral tumors on their hearing and balance nerves (vestibular schwannoma).
Key Gene Identified for Development of Inner-Ear Structure Required for Balance
"Both human and mouse ears perform functions beyond hearing. They also control balance and our perception of gravity and motion. NIDCD-funded scientists at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor collaborating with scientists at Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG in Martinsried, Germany, for the first time identified a protein whose enzymatic function is indispensable for development of this balance system."
Read the full press release at www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/cshl-kgi030804.php>
Loss of Smell, Taste Increases Injury Risk VCU Study Finds
Richmond, Va. -Patients who have total or partial loss of their olfactory sense - the ability to smell - are more likely to experience hazardous events than people with normal olfactory function, according to a new study by researchers in the Smell and Taste Clinic at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
Read the full press release at www.vcu.edu/uns/Releases/2004/march/031504.html.
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