Status: 04/26/2021 9:00 PM
The research by Göttingen Leibniz Prize-winning Tobias Moser raises hope among deaf people: Thanks to light implants, it should be possible to hear much better than conventional cochlear implants.
In this process, the audio signals are translated into light pulses and translated using LED technology by hearing cells in the ear that are genetically adapted to it. Thanks to pulses of light, more frequencies must be set than cochlear implants. Moser said this has already been successfully tested in mice, NDR. More simulations are now raising hope – in this case with a 3D model of the monkey shell shell. To do this, Moser is working with researchers from the German Primate Center (DPZ) who developed the model.
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Human studies from 2025
On the computer, researchers have now simulated how light signals propagate in the ear and whether they get to where they are supposed to reach: the auditory cells. According to the Primate Center, a lightweight implant can provide much more information to your cochlear than regular cochlear implants. The next step will be to conduct tests on live shared marmosets, for which DPZ must file an application. Finally, clinical trials in humans are slated for 2025.
