http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Ava Martin seems less nervous than her parents as the three sit in an audiologist`s office at UC Irvine Medical Center a few days after Labor Day. In August, the 6-year-old had surgery to place a cochlear implant in her right ear. Now Ava plays with toys while Ginger Stickney describes to Dave and Gabrielle Martin the tests that will gauge how their daughter`s auditory nerve is responding to the implant. But first Stickney must activate the device that could restore function to Ava`s right ear - an ability lost years ago due to a congenital inner-ear defect that`s also destroying the hearing in her left ear. http://www.physorg.com/news176659178.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:01 EST news176659178 (PhysOrg.com) -- Inspired by the success of cochlear implants that can restore hearing to some deaf people, researchers at MIT are working on a retinal implant that could one day help blind people regain a useful level of vision. http://www.physorg.com/news172920565.html Technology Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:30:36 EST news172920565 (PhysOrg.com) -- If manmade devices could be combined with biological machines, laptops and other electronic devices could get a boost in operating efficiency. http://www.physorg.com/news169145728.html Nanotechnology Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:56:13 EST news169145728 Hearing aids and cochlear implants act as tiny amplifiers so the deaf and hard-of-hearing can make sense of voices and music. Unfortunately, these devices also amplify background sound, so they're less effective in a noisy environment like a busy workplace or café. http://www.physorg.com/news168705192.html Technology Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:50:03 EST news168705192 Can a pair of bionic ears benefit a hearing-impaired child? Cynthia Zettler, a postdoctoral fellow in Ruth Litovsky's laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison thinks so. http://www.physorg.com/news161605109.html Medicine & Health Fri, 15 May 2009 11:18:58 EST news161605109 (AP) -- Wisconsin could become the first state requiring private insurance companies to cover cochlear implants for children with severe hearing problems. The state Legislature passed a bill Thursday requiring private health insurance plans to cover cochlear implants, hearing aids and related treatment for those under the age of 18. Gov. Jim Doyle has promised to sign it into law. http://www.physorg.com/news159728780.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:07:03 EST news159728780 Contrary to conventional medical wisdom, a new study by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers shows that healthy elderly patients with severe to profound hearing loss can undergo a surgical procedure to receive cochlear implants with minimal risk. http://www.physorg.com/news154967034.html Medicine & Health Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:24:19 EST news154967034 (PhysOrg.com) -- Lip reading is a critical means of communication for many deaf people, but it has a drawback: Certain consonants (for example, p and b) can be nearly impossible to distinguish by sight alone. http://www.physorg.com/news154884567.html Technology Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:30:28 EST news154884567 (PhysOrg.com) -- For years, hearing scientists have known that cochlear implants improve the communication of children who receive them. What they didn`t know was whether the children and their parents perceived an improvement in their overall quality of life. http://www.physorg.com/news154193710.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:35:35 EST news154193710 Patients with cochlear implants may want to steer clear of certain magnetic imaging devices, such as 3T MRI machines, because the machines can demagnetize the patient's implant, according to new research published in the December 2008 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.physorg.com/news147337484.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:04:44 EST news147337484 The number of hearing impaired infants and toddlers who are successfully aided by technological devices, such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, continues to grow, but there are still unknowns about these children's speaking abilities, according to a Purdue University expert. http://www.physorg.com/news141394926.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:22:06 EST news141394926 According to an Italian research team publishing their findings in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (17:6), hearing loss due to cochlear damage may be repaired by transplantation of human umbilical cord hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) since they show that a small number migrated to the damaged cochlea and repaired sensory hair cells and neurons. http://www.physorg.com/news139658312.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:58:32 EST news139658312