Archive for July, 2009

New Virtual Office Hearing Aid Programming Software Puts An Online Audiologist In Your Personal Computer

Audiologists from America Hears, Inc. now make online house calls to hearing aid customers who install the latest version of the company’s Virtual Office hearing aid programming software on their personal computers at home.

Research To Investigate The Clinical And Cost-effectiveness Of Bone Anchored Hearing Aids

New research commissioned by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme will assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of bone anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) for people who are bilaterally deaf (deaf in both ears). Hearing impairment is the most common sensory deficit and it is estimated that there are approximately 688,000 [...]

Review: Weak Support For Workplace Hearing Loss Programs

A new review of existing research says there is little evidence to support mandatory hearing-loss prevention programs at the workplace. Workers could simply wear earplugs and other devices that protect hearing, but even those are not always effective, the review authors found.

Hearing Improved In First Successful Medical Treatment For Tumor-Inducing Genetic Disorder

Treatment with the angiogenesis inhibitor bevacizumab improved hearing and alleviated other symptoms in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).

One Step Closer To An Artificial Nerve Cell

Scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University are well on the way to creating the first artificial nerve cell that can communicate specifically with nerve cells in the body using neurotransmitters. The technology has been published in an article in Nature Materials. The methods that are currently used [...]

Link Between Common Antibacterial Treatment And Sensorineural Hearing Loss In Cystic Fibrosis Patients

An otherwise effective treatment for cystic fibrosis places patients at a high risk of sensorineural hearing loss, according to new research published in the July edition of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in [...]

Echo-Location In Humans Developed By Spanish Scientists

A team of researchers from the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH) has shown scientifically that human beings can develop echolocation, the system of acoustic signals used by dolphins and bats to explore their surroundings. Producing certain kinds of tongue clicks helps people to identify objects around them without needing to see them, something which [...]

Brain Section Multitasks, Handling Phonetics And Decision-Making

A front portion of the brain that handles tasks like decision-making also helps decipher different phonetic sounds, according to new Brown University research. This section of the brain - the left inferior frontal sulcus - treats different pronunciations of the same speech sound (such as a ‘d’ sound) the same way. [...]

Minute Antibacterial Particles Destroy Drug-Resistant Germs

Doctors may get a new arsenal for meningitis treatment and the war on drug-resistant bacteria and fungal infections with novel peptide nanoparticles developed by scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of Singapore and reported in Nature Nanotechnology. The stable bioengineered nanoparticles devised at IBN effectively seek out and destroy [...]