UTD professor awarded $1.3M for new hearing impaired

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UTD professor awarded $1.3M for new hearing impaired technology

4/12/06 -

Dr. Philip C. Loizou, an electrical engineering professor in the Jonsson

School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at

Dallas (UTD), has been awarded a three-year, $1.3-million contract from The

National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build an interface that will enable

personal digital assistants, or PDAs, to transmit sounds to an implant worn in

the

inner ear of deaf individuals.

“This will no doubt have a profound impact on the life of hearing impaired

people,†Loizou said. “To them, this PDA processor could not only be a

speech

processor, but a PC, a phone, an assistive listening device, a GPS device,

an Internet browser and a music player — all integrated into one device.â€

PDAs have grown in popularity as personal data organizers, Web browsers,

cell phones and music players. Loizou said the new interface he hopes to

develop

will allow PDAs to process acoustic signals — such as speech — through a

microphone that is worn behind an individual’s ear. The signal would then be

transmitted wirelessly into a cochlear implant in the inner ear.

According to Loizou, technology currently exists to transmit sounds to

cochlear implant users, but it is costly and relies on custom-made speech

processors. Replacing the speech processors with PDAs will make the technology

more

affordable, and the flexibility of PDAs will make the technology more

accessible.

“The goal is to develop the PDA as a research processor that is portable,

flexible and easy to use, and make it available to researchers interested in

clinical studies,†Loizou added. “Open access to such a PDA processor could

accelerate the research at a faster pace. PDAs provide powerful computing

ability and have excellent wireless connectivity options, and this will make

cochlear implant technology accessible to all, including the hearing impaired

population in Third-World countries.â€

The team that will work on the project draws from several areas of expertise

and includes four faculty members from UTD’s electrical engineering

department, including Dr. Hoi Lee, Dr. Murat Torlak, Dr. Nasser Kehrtarnavaz

and

Loizou. Dr. Anu Sharma, who also will collaborate on the project, is from

UTD’s

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and has extensive clinical experience

in neurophysiology.

This is the second NIH award Loizou has earned. The first, which he received

in March 2005, was a five-year, $1.5-million grant to improve the

performance of cochlear implants by programming the prosthesis to operate more

effectively in a range of listening conditions.

Loizou joined UTD in 1999. He earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in

engineering from Arizona State University.

For more information www.utdallas.edu.