Chinese researchers have developed the world\u2019s first bionic neural\ndevice that enables the brains of hearing-impaired individuals to\n\u201cunderstand\u201d sound rather than merely \u201chear\u201d it.<\/p>\n
The device, created by a research team from Nankai University in the\nnorthern Chinese city of Tianjin, offers a new approach of electronic\nsubstitution and repair for hearing reconstruction, going beyond\nconventional cochlear implants.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt present, cochlear implants only address the problem of \u2018hearing\u2019.\nHowever, constrained by fixed time-based signal mechanisms and a limited\nnumber of electrodes, cochlear implants still lag far behind the natural\nauditory system in terms of temporal resolution and speech recognition\nin complex acoustic environments,\u201d said Xu Wentao, who led the research\nat the College of Electronic and Optical Engineering, in a Nankai\nUniversity press release on Monday (13 July).<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is not only to make this system able to \u2018hear\u2019, but to\nenable it to truly \u2018understand\u2019 sound, meaning it can select, process\nand transmit valuable auditory information like natural nerves,\u201d he\nsaid, adding that the new device marks an important step in hearing\nrehabilitation from \u2018restoring perception\u2019 to \u2018rebuilding function\u2019.<\/p>\n
The study, titled \u2018Artificial neuromorphic interface for hearing\nrestoration\u2019, was published online on 1 July in the journal Nature\nMaterials.<\/p>\n
According to the study, hearing depends not only on the ear but also\non the auditory nerve, which acts like a \u2018superhighway\u2019 transmitting\nsound signals to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss, the type of\ndeafness caused by damage to this pathway, affects around 3 per cent of\nthe global population.<\/p>\n
Traditional cochlear implants can convert sound into electrical\nsignals, but they still rely on the patient\u2019s remaining auditory nerve\nto complete the final stage of transmission.<\/p>\n
Once the auditory nerve is severely damaged or lost, \u201ceven the most\nadvanced cochlear implant becomes ineffective\u201d, said Xu, adding that\nthis long-standing challenge is what his team\u2019s breakthrough seeks to\novercome.<\/p>\n
The new device, described as a \u2018neuromorphic interface\u2019 that mimics\nthe natural coding processes of the biological auditory nerve,\nintegrates sound acquisition, neural coding, semantic processing and\nbioelectric output into a complete artificial neural circuit.<\/p>\n
The research team explained that the device not only captures sound\nbut also filters, analyses and encodes it in a manner resembling the\nnatural auditory system, before conveying meaningful information to the\nbrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing forward, we will continue our research in neural repair and\nbionic intelligence, and work hard to move our core technology from the\nlaboratory to clinical use and the market,\u201d said Xu.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to achieve more breakthroughs in neural prosthetics,\nintelligent healthcare, brain-computer interfaces and embodied\nintelligence,\u201d he added.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chinese-researchers-develop-device-to-help-understand-sound-1784130892", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }