What’s new in implantable devices? New indications in cochlear implantation

For over 40 years, cochlear implant procedures have steadily increased. Outcomes for patients are improving as a result of modified surgical techniques, a wider portfolio of electrode arrays, advances in programming strategies, access to improved technology and a better understanding...

What’s new in hearing aid technology? Requisites for successful implementation of eHealth in hearing health care

Like Eeyore in AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories it appears we all will soon have a personal cloud, but unlike Eeyore this will be something to celebrate! The future of hearing aid technology is in the cloud argues Uwe...

The challenge of disrupting the hearing care market in the USA

Barry Freeman, an Audiology Consultant of extensive global experience, examines the business model of hearing care service delivery in America. He discusses the challenges the profession has faced, and proposes some food for thought on learning from other health care...

How entrepreneurs can integrate hearables into their clinic

Brian Taylor provides an interesting perspective on market segmentation of the hearing impaired population, and how as clinicians and entrepreneurs we need to be able to recognise the different approaches that are required to address the large percentage of the...

Hearing healthcare in India

With a population of more than a billion people, and an estimated prevalence of hearing loss of somewhere between 5.9% and 16.5%, depending on which definition you use, India has a significant number of hearing impaired individuals. They are served...

Out of Africa: Audiovannah audiology clinic in Zimbabwe

Audiovannah reception area. In 2015 two Danish audiologists, Jenny Pedersen and Nicolai Pedersen, relocated to Zimbabwe and opened a full service audiology clinic (Audiovannah) in the capital city of Harare. The focus has been to give back as much as...

Establishing a hearing service and ear hospital in Nepal: the Ear Aid Nepal experience

Following the earthquake that devastated Nepal in April 2015, the year ended on a positive note with the opening of an ENT hospital in Pokhara. Mike Smith, a UK-born ENT surgeon has been the driving force behind the conception and...

The future of hearing care and the role of audiology

The Clinical Director of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and President-elect of the American Academy of Audiology reviews the status of the present day audiologist’s remit, and discusses the changes we can expect with the changing demographic and behaviour of...

The European TINNET COST Action BM1306

Winfried Schlee describes how a major European funding award is bringing together experts who are committed to collectively developing a better understanding of tinnitus. This work is vital if we are to pioneer effective treatments for the condition in its...

Clinical WG1. Establishing a standard for tinnitus: patient assessment and characterisation

Rilana Cima and Haúla Haider introduce an ambitious pan-European collaboration that seeks to establish guidelines for achieving best clinical practice for managing, assessing and treating patients with different tinnitus profiles. Tinnitus heterogeneity is the major reason for inconsistent results in...

Database WG2. The Tinnitus Patient Database in the TINNET COST Action BM1306

Berthold Langguth describes an innovative project that is creating the world’s largest multi-national patient database containing standardised information on tinnitus and medical history, otological examination and psycho-acoustic measures of tinnitus. A challenge for tinnitus treatment and tinnitus research is the...

Neuroimaging WG3. Neuroimaging as a window on the heterogeneity of tinnitus

Pim van Dijk and Sven Vanneste describe the hope that brain imaging techniques used for research will provide a better understanding of the heterogeneity of tinnitus through large-scale analysis. Their project will create a procedure whereby researchers can submit their...