Audiology features
Personal perspective of a hearing aid user: In conversation with Alistair Cruickshank
Alistair Cruickshank explains how he has embraced technological changes to improve his day-to-day listening experiences as a hearing aid user. He explains the importance of experimenting and trying out different approaches and how much he values working closely with his...
Wisdom and the cochlear implant clinician
Helen Cullington provides the clinician’s perspective on the challenges faced in building artificial intelligence into cochlear implant clinics. She highlights the importance of including the clinician with their wisdom and experience to help make sense of the patterns of data....
Composing with Meniere’s disease: a personal reflection
Is a fluctuating hearing loss and composing music incompatible? Professor Andrew Hugill discusses his personal experience of Meniere’s disease and the work that has developed as a result of the condition. As I write this article, I am in the...
Hearing loss prevention in musicians - violating one rule of physics
Whilst enjoying music, we also need to be mindful of the potential effect of producing music for the musician. Dr Chasin discusses the development of earplugs for the industry with the added bonus of physics for party goers! Hearing protection,...
Clinical strategies for improving music listening
For audiologists and patients alike, the technical challenges of fitting hearing aids for music are well known. Drs Greasley and Crook introduce their research and top tips for improving satisfaction in this important topic. Hearing aids are often problematic for...
Sound of Metal: an evocative look at the deaf community and cochlear implantation in adults
Sound of Metal is an American drama movie, co-written and directed by Darius Marder, which tells the story of a drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. The film was highly praised, receiving great acclaim for performances from Paul Raci and...
Are today’s implantable hearing devices better than conventional devices for patients with conductive and mixed hearing loss?
In March 2014, we published a paper in ENT & Audiology News, with a similar title. Below, an updated overview is presented of available devices (early 2021) for patients with conductive/mixed hearing loss. The focus is on effectiveness. Patients with...
Barriers to cochlear implantation in low resource settings
The benefits of early detection and rehabilitation of hearing loss in children, especially through cochlear implantation, are unequivocal. However, access to these valuable resources is far from equal and universal. Identifying the barriers is the first major step in addressing...
The power of the multidisciplinary team in paediatric cochlear implant assessment
Marette, Kate and Justine from the Birmingham Paediatric Centre give a detailed insight into how their team works together to assess children and young people for potential cochlear implantation. Cochlear implants and the specialist MDT The multidisciplinary team in cochlear...
MDT assessment of children and adults with implantable acoustic devices (IADs)
Abi Asher, Clinical Lead for the IAD programme in Cambridge describes how hearing care professionals work together to make the best recommendation for the patient, in turn helping navigate through the various devices now on offer. Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are...
The ear-brain connection in cochlear implant users: learning to listen again
While the cochlear implant (CI) has been a tremendous success in restoring hearing to deaf individuals, the implantation outcome still varies across CI users [1]. Some demographic factors, such as duration of deafness, and peripheral factors, such as electrode placement,...
Semi implantable bone conduction devices: challenges and developments
Bone conduction mechanisms and history of bone conduction aids Bone conduction hearing devices work by stimulating hair cells via the bone conduction hearing pathways. These pathways are less well understood than the air conduction pathways, but recent research has shown...
