While hearing aid manufacturers keep trying to make a less cumbersome and noticeable appliance, University of Virginia graduate student Jonathan Spindel has delved into the subject a little deeper. He has developed a device that transmits sound via a tiny magnet permanently implanted on the "round window" of the inner ear and an electromagnetic coil placed a short distance from the magnet. Spindel, who expects to complete his doctoral work in biomedical engineering this year, notes that his device improves on conventional hearing aids and even other implantable units for those with "nerve deafness," in which the nerve cells that convert sound into signals to the brain are damaged or defective. Nerve deafness is suffered by 80 percent of the more than 22 million Americans with significant hearing loss. Spindel says that the other implantable hearing aids for nerve deafness require surgery that disrupts the small bones of the ...
Notebook
Ear to the Grindstone A Different Way Art For Earth's Sake Magnetic Personality Antimatter Matters While hearing aid manufacturers keep trying to make a less cumbersome and noticeable appliance, University of Virginia graduate student Jonathan Spindel has delved into the subject a little deeper. He has developed a device that transmits sound via a tiny magnet permanently implanted on the "round window" of the inner ear and an electromagnetic coil placed a short distance from the magnet.
| 3 min read
Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
3:00
Share
Interested in reading more?
Become a Member of
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
Published In
Share
