Development of Infrared Hearing Aid

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12069
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Perceptual information processing
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: kobayasi kohta 同志社大学, 生命医科学部, 准教授 (40512736)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 補聴器 / 聴性脳幹反応 / 赤外線レーザー刺激 / 人工感覚器

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cochlear implants are widely used to restore hearing, but implanting an electrode needs a major surgical intervention. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of using the laser, which generate compound action potentials from neurons without contacting tissues, as less invasive alternative for a hearing aid, and we specifically targeted 1) to establish the scheme for stimulating cochlear nerves by infrared laser and 2) to develop a speech-coding scheme for laser stimulation to convey intelligible speech. As results, stimulating the cochlear nerve through the round window successfully evoked the neural activity resembling auditory brainstem responses, and the response can be modified by changing the repetition rate and intensity of the laser. In addition, we created a click-modulated speech sound to simulate infrared laser stimulation, and the sound was partially intelligible. In total, our results suggest that an infrared laser could restore speech perception.

Free Research Field

神経行動学