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Genetic discovery using animal models: presbyacusis

By their very nature, late-onset hereditary disorders offer a large window of opportunity for therapeutic intervention. However, before we can begin to think about strategies we need knowledge of the genetics and pathology underlying the condition. In this article we...

The sound of music for adult cochlear implant recipients

Dr Valerie Looi has dedicated her academic career to investigating music perception in people who have cochlear implants, and more recently, the potential of music training for improving their music perception. This article outlines current research relating to music perception...

Plasticity with cochlear implants: individual factors in the outcomes

Andrej Kral gives us an overview of neuronal plasticity in congenital hearing loss, and discusses why it is core to our clinical interventions in hearing loss and rehabilitation. The brain is born immature and undergoes extensive shaping during early development....

Direct-to-consumer hearing devices: a need to combine cosmetic appeal with device capabilities

How safe and desirable are direct-to-consumer amplification devices? A team has put a range of devices through their paces and compared them to a standard NHS hearing device. Why do most individuals who would benefit from hearing aids not try...

Hearing aid microphone considerations for binaural hearing: When to select natural or aggressive directional microphone technology?

Should I use omni-directional or fixed directionality? Does it make a difference if I’m fitting a unilateral hearing loss? Mark Laureyns discusses the current evidence on directional microphones and provides practical advice on the systems and when to employ them....

Use of automated audiometry for faster patient access to audiology services?

Manual audiometry has long been the gold standard for establishing hearing thresholds. In recent years, a number of automated audiometry applications have reached the market. In this article, a team from Ireland have put a version of automated audiometry to...

Audible Contrast Threshold – a new test to guide setting help-in-noise features in hearing aids

A new diagnostic test that is quick and has directly applicable results to hearing aid settings has arrived, but how does it work? Leigh Martin has the answers. In an earlier article for ENT & Audiology News, Parmar and Rajasingam...

Audiology and ophthalmology: a comparative perspective on diagnostics and patient care

What are the similarities and differences between audiology and ophthalmic practices, and what can we learn from each other? Rosalyn Painter finds out. I’m here with Chris Gordon and Anthony Vukic from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to find out...

The future of head and neck cancer surgery

Neil Sharma paints an exciting picture of the future of head and neck surgery with nanobots and robot augmented humans – science fiction or reality? Time will tell. ‘May you live in interesting times’ reads the old Chinese curse. The...

Surgeons and swearing

We will all know colleagues who have raised the act of swearing to an art form; just as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It could cut a workmate in half with a well-placed swear word, surgeons can be equally...

Tonsillectomy in adolescents

Tonsillectomy is one of the most common operations performed across the developed world. Salil Sood and Ray Clarke discuss the special considerations that apply when performing this procedure on adolescent patients. Tonsillitis in teenagers can be exceptionally painful and disruptive....