EPFL is developing next-generation soft hearing implants

Working with clinicians from Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, a team of EPFL researchers has developed a conformable electrode implant that will allow people with a dysfunctional inner ear to hear again. This new device could replace existing auditory brainstem implants, which have a number of shortcomings. Close to half a million people around the world suffer from a serious hearing impairment. In some cases, they can find relief in cochlear and other types of implants. Yet these devices do not help people whose inner ear is damaged or whose auditory nerve does not function properly. For these patients to recover their sense of hearing, electrical signals must be sent directly to the auditory brainstem. The neuroprosthetic used for this purpose is called an auditory brainstem implant, or ABI.