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Neurological idiopathic disease: a shared journey for NASA and medicine

Whilst Southampton can’t really be described as an extreme environment, experiments carried out in the city have certainly been taken out of this world. Robert Marchbanks discusses one of the associations between Southampton, The International Space Station and tympanic membrane...

The power of mentoring

What is a mentor, and what are the benefits for mentee and mentor? Emma Stapleton and Rohma Abrar, mentor and mentee respectively, explain. The term ‘mentor’ is derived from Homer’s Odyssey, in which the goddess Athena, disguised as Mentor, guides...

Hearing care systems in Europe – can we do more?

52 million Europeans experience hearing loss but many don’t find their way to professional hearing care. Lidia Best looks at strategies to improve the uptake of amplification at a national level [1]. With rising numbers of people experiencing hearing loss,...

Knowledge is power: the power of mobile technologies to enhance hearing-related knowledge

In recent years, the widespread use of smartphones has made it increasingly possible to improve knowledge, understanding and delivery of hearing healthcare. Melanie Ferguson tells us about the advances in mobile-health applications. Think back to five years ago - what...

Singing after laryngectomy: Shout at Cancer

Thomas Moors is an ENT junior doctor with a background in music and singing. Combining these interests, he has set up a charity to help patients who have had a laryngectomy. He has achieved considerable public attention, and he tells...

Surgical technology and operating room safety failures: lessons from vascular and general surgery

Background – surgical technology and otolaryngology An estimated 234 million major surgical procedures are performed annually worldwide. This requires the interaction of multidisciplinary teams with varying contributions of surgical technology and therefore makes surgical procedures prone to multiple sources of...

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....

An overview of human factors in ENT and anaesthesia

James Bates and Chris Frerk are both passionate about how human factors science can improve safety in healthcare and have co-authored this article describing how communication, ergonomics and other non-technical skills are making operating theatres safer. There is no doubt...

Microneedles enable inner ear precision medicine

Developing safe, reliable and efficient ways to deliver therapeutics into the cochlea is a key challenge. In this article, the authors share their work to develop microneedles to address this challenge. The era of precision medicine of the inner ear...

Long-term outcomes of children and young people with cochlear implants

Introduction Profound childhood hearing loss has a huge impact on early communication skills, the acquisition of spoken language, and hence on educational attainments and employment prospects. Over the centuries, educators of the deaf attempted to overcome the challenge by using...