CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Laryngorhinootologie 2019; 98(S 02): S156
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1686533
Abstracts
Otology

Strategies to Improve the Bioelectric Interface in Cochlear Implants

S Volkenstein
1   Klinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-, Bochum
,
T Dombrowski
2   Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum St. Elisabeth-Hospital, Bochum
,
S Günther
2   Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum St. Elisabeth-Hospital, Bochum
,
S Dazert
2   Klinik für Hals-, Nasen-, Ohrenheilkunde, Kopf- und Hals-Chirurgie der Ruhr-Universität Bochum St. Elisabeth-Hospital, Bochum
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Introduction:

In patients with severe to profound hearing loss, cochlear implants (CIs) are currently the only therapeutic option when the amplification with conventional hearing aids does no longer lead to a useful hearing experience. Despite its great success, there are patients in which benefit from these devices is rather limited. One reason may be a poor neuron-device interaction, where the electric fields generated by the electrode array excite a wide range of tonotopically organized spiral ganglion neurons at the cost of spatial resolution.

Methods:

There are several strategies we follow up in our group to improve this bioelectrical interface in the future. We will present the most recent results of cell culture experiments on postnatal spiral ganglion neurons regarding I. neuroprotection, II. directed neurite outgrowth and III. regenerative strategies using stem/progenitor cells.

Results & Conclusion:

Each of these strategies may have a potential use for poor performers depending on the individual circumstances to improve speech perception and hearing outcome in the future. We show our latest progress harvesting autologeous stem cells of the olfactory epithelium in humans and differentiation approaches into neuron-like cells.



Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)

© 2019. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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