The technology of Australian time
The bionic Ear
Introduction
Advancements in Information Technology have now made it possible to restore hearing to the profoundly deaf by inserting a prosthetic device called the Bionic Ear (also known as the Cochlear Implant) in an individual’s inner ear. The Bionic Ear technology is an example of design and innovation combined with information processing, software design and development. Since it was first invented, technology advancements proceeded on a parallel track in terms of miniaturisation and increasing sophistication of this Bionic Ear technology. This particular technology operates by delivering electrical stimuli to the auditory nerve which then triggers auditory sensations to progressively become closer to sounding like normal speech.
What is the Bionic Ear?
The Bionic Ear, which is an artificial hearing device, intended to directly stimulate the implant recipient’s auditory nerve. It is implanted surgically into the ear, and is activated by a device that is worn outside of the user’s body. The purpose of the Bionic Ear is to bypass the normal hearing mechanism within the human ear and convert speech and sounds into signals that are sent to the hearing centres of the brain. This technology was first researched and devised by Professor Graham Clark in the 1960s to 1970s and since then, a range of implants have been devised by the Nucleus Cochlear division. As opposed to the traditional hearing aid which makes use of sound vibrations, the Bionic Ear converts these vibrations into electrical stimuli that are picked up by the auditory nerve and transmit them to the implant recipient’s brain.
Who is it catered for?
Many people with hearing loss utilise hea...
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...professionals is not only for money in this growing and dynamic industry. What also motivates them is their underlying interest and passion in finding ways to apply IT to the current and changing needs of society and make meaningful contributions to the way we live. It can be concluded that the Bionic Ear should not be viewed as a threat to society, but rather a choice that is available for those who wish to experience the effects of the technology in their lives.
In future, the Bionic Ear will lower power consumption as well as manufacturing automation. These Bionic Ear technology advancements will continue to make an impact on society as professionals continue to work for the betterment of humanity. The Bionic Ear will continue to provide many great advantages to the deaf and if implanted and used correctly, become one of the greatest beneficiaries to humanity.
Technology nowadays is getting more and more dangerous, especially to our ears. Every day we are subjected to videos, text sounds, alert sounds, alarms, and anything else that may be of use in life. These sounds seem to be happening more often which is damaging our ears. There is a solution to this damage though, and that is cochlear implants. These implants will bypass the damaged part of your ear to give you a sense of sound that can be made very useful to the patient. This paper will look into how the ear works, how hearing loss happens, why these cochlear implants are a good solution, how these implants work, cost and ethics related to these implants, and what the future holds for them.
Lane, Harlan (1992). “Cochlear Implants are Wrong for Young Deaf Children.” Viewpoints on Deafness. Ed. Mervin D. Garretson. National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD. 89-92.
Cochlear implants are electronic devices that sends signals directly to the auditory nerve. Cochlear implants consist of external parts which include the microphone, speech processor, and the transmitter. They also consist of internal parts that must be surgically placed under the skin including the receiver and electrical array. In order for the implant to work, the microphone
Cochlear Implants are frequently thought of as an end all solution to hearing loss, a cure for deafness. However there are a couple things wrong with this line of thinking: First CI’s are not a perfect replacement for fully functioning ears. Second, they will only work for a few deaf people.
“Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent,” wrote the iconic American essayist, poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, a lofty proclamation that inspired my focus to help those with hearing loss through restoration. After a winding journey in search for an academic focus, I discovered that audiology is far more than just aiding deaf or hard of hearing individuals, but restoring balance, managing loss through therapy, and discovering new research techniques that may involve auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. After arriving at my destination, I also learned that it is my responsibility as a future audiologist to be a leader, to work hard toward achieving a better future for myself, and a better world for humanity at large. This vision drives my aspiration to join the University of South Florida’s graduate audiology program this coming fall, and continue my examination of clinical audiology as a member of your community.
...sation. This is causing audiologists in the future to pursue careers in research, military audiology, and academia, instead of private practice. However, since hearing loss is associated with aging, individuals continually demand services from audiologists. Also, members of the baby boomer generation are all now seeking services from audiologists. It is projected that the profession of audiology is to grow approximately 37% within the next few years, and the field is to continue expanding.
Deafness affects millions of people in the United States every year. Cochlear implants and hearing aids are two methods to treat the hearing impaired, but the person has to rely on the device to hear sounds. First announced in Nature Medicine, scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School have discovered a gene that could potentially cure deafness.
Although attempts to stimulate hearing with electricity date back to the 1950s, the modern version of the cochlear implant did not appear until the 1970s (Wilson & Dorman, 2008, p. 3). The earliest versions relied upon a single electrode to translate sound into electrical impulses and relay them to the brain. Engineers were steadily making progress, however, and by the 1990s implants in young children had become fairly routine (Wilson & Dorman, 2008, p. 3). The modern cochlear implant currently ...
Tucker, Bonnie. “Deaf Culture, Cochlear Implants, and Elective Disability.” Hastings Center Report. 28.4 (1998): 1-12. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
The medical field is notorious for providing cures to deafness, such as cochlear implants, which then leads people to believe that it is something that must be fixed and therefore labels deafness as a disability. While Tina Gianoulis was comparing the similarities between Queer and Deaf experiences in her article mentioned earlier she declares that, “most painfully, both groups have traditionally been forced to try to become “normal”. Well-meaning parents, determined that their children not be labeled “different”, have sent thousands of deaf children to speech pathologists and mainstream schools where they spend their youth feeling lonely, bewildered, and deficient.” which is the negative effect that the deafness should be cured thought has on those that actually experience hearing
What I found most interesting about Jarashow’s presentation were the two opposing views: Deaf culture versus medical professionals. Within the Deaf culture, they want to preserve their language and identity. The Deaf community wants to flourish and grow and do not view being deaf as a disability or being wrong. Jarashow stated that the medical field labels Deaf people as having a handicap or being disabled because they cannot hear. Those who are Deaf feel as though medical professionals are trying to eliminate them and relate it to eugenics. It is perceived that those in that field are trying to fix those who are Deaf and eliminate them by making them conform to a hearing world. Those within the Deaf community seem to be unhappy with devices such
Individuals who are deaf or are hearing impaired are faced with many problems in today’s world. There are so many tasks and activities that are done today that deaf or hearing impaired people may have difficulty doing because of there handicap. There handicap used to stop them or inhibit them from doing something that they are interested in or there friends and neighbors would do. However in today there are new and different technologies, that help the deaf and hearing impaired in the activities in which they want to participate in which is hard for them to take part in because of there handicap. Technology is used to help with everyday tasks in the lives of deaf and hearing impaired individuals. With out this new technology which is being invented everyday, deaf and hearing impaired people may be considered to have a handicap which prevents them from certain activities, but this is not the case anymore, now these people just have different obstacles which through the use of technology they are learning to over come. They can do anything that regular normal range of hearing individuals can do, due to the new technology being invented everyday.
At a young age, Bell started to recreate the sound of the human voice, “At the age of 16, he built a talking machine from rubber and strips of tin. He could make the device’s tin strips vibrate and produce bl...
Davies, Paul. (2005). Implants stir fight over deaf education. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 1, 2005, from http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3125477
Then, when I was three years old, I had surgery to get a cochlear implant at the University of Minnesota. A cochlear implant is a small device which bypasses the damaged parts of the ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve. Signals generated by the implant are sent by the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes t...