Hearing due to electrical stimulation of the auditory system

Abstract

One of the major problems facing otologists today is the treatment of perceptive deafness. The results of treating patients with deafness due to middle-ear disease are now good, but this is not the case when there is damage to the inner ear or central auditory pathways. A hearing aid will assist a great many people, but there are a number of patients with very severe or total deafness who cannot be helped in this way. Consequently, a different approach to the problem must be made, and for this reason, electrical stimulation of the cochlea or auditory pathways to reproduce the natural stimulus may provide a solution.