Search

Developing medical devices for children: opportunities and challenges

The development of medical devices for infants and children lags significantly behind the development of devices for adults. While in the United States the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set up incentives for developing child age-specific pharmaceuticals, there is...

Timing of surgery in chronic rhinosinusitis: does it matter?

While many patients with chronic rhinosinusitis respond to medical treatment, some do not. The next step for these patients is surgery, but how soon should this be offered? Sooner rather than later seems to be the answer, as Claire Hopkins...

By the people, for the people: a multidisciplinary facial nerve clinic with a difference

Facial nerve palsy is regularly seen in ENT clinics. Underlying diagnoses are excluded, and the patient is often then discharged to ‘see how it goes’, with or without an ophthalmology referral. Here, Catherine Meller describes how she and her team...

The ear-brain connection: the role of cognition in neural speech processing

Audiologists and other hearing healthcare professionals have become increasingly interested in the importance of cognitive function in the assessment and management of hearing loss, especially in light of evidence suggesting a link between hearing loss and cognitive decline in older...

Evidence based practice in paediatric audiology

Audiology, like most of the health sciences professions, has been working on integrating evidence-based practice principles since the mid-1990s [1]. Professional organisations and regulatory colleges have produced evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, disseminated them to audiologists and collaborated with practitioners to...

Public health planning for hearing impairment (2017)

In 2009 Professor Andrew Smith and Dr Daksha Patel identified the need for awareness of public health methods in hearing healthcare planning. In 2010 the first training course was held, and since then 760 health workers from 41 countries have...

Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for adults with tinnitus

Tinnitus remains one of the most prevalent and distressing audiological symptoms. Although specialist tinnitus services are in high demand, geographical and service constraints result in limited access to these services. Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) has been developed to provide...

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...

Sound Seekers: audiology in the developing world

Kavita Prasad, the current CEO of Soundseekers, is an inspirational woman in a leadership role within the audiology world. Here, she gives us an overview of the scope of the charity and the ways in which they improve the lives...

MDT clinics for adults with learning disabilities and hearing loss

Healthcare providers can have limitations and challenges providing optimum care for patients with intellectual disabilities. Siobhan Brennan and Susanna Goodhart highlight key professionals and carers who may be instrumental when trying to deliver good management and care along with other...

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...