Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · Germany
Göttingen-led animal study: optical cochlear implants yield more distinct nerve signals
A research team led by University Medical Center Göttingen reports in EMBO Molecular Medicine that optical cochlear implants triggered more distinguishable nerve signals than conventional electrical implants in an animal model.
Why it matters: Researchers developing cochlear implants now have published animal-model data comparing optical with conventional electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve.
Researchers led by University Medical Center Göttingen (Universitätsmedizin Göttingen) showed in an animal model that optical cochlear implants produce nerve signals that are easier to distinguish than those from conventional electrical implants.
In the study, up to ten different light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operating at very low light energies were able to selectively trigger different nerve signals.
Nerve signals carry hearing information such as sound waves, pitch and volume to the brain.
The results have been published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
The findings come from an animal model, so the comparison of up to ten LEDs against conventional electrical stimulation applies to that setting rather than to human patients.
