A Half-Century of Hearing Achivement: The House Ear Insitute (repeat)

[Guest guest]

From the archives of bh News in report of the March, 2001 issue of the Hearing

Review:

........................

A Half-Century of Hearing Achievement: The House Ear Institute

Fifty years ago, House established what would become the House Ear

Institute (HEI), one of

the world centers for hearing research. As the first in a series on leading

hearing science and

research centers, this article focuses on the scientists, ongoing research and

new findings at HEI.

1

By Zarpan Osmani

Fifty years ago, two grateful patients provided a generous donation to

House, MD, to

establish a hearing research facility in Los Angeles, California. Since its

establishment in 1946,

the House Ear Institute (HEI) has grown from a one-person laboratory to a

five-story building,

accommodating a staff of over 175 people dedicated to the advancement of

otologic research. W.

House, MD, House’s son, serves as the president of the Institute.

W. House, MD, President, and P. House, MD, Founder of The House Ear

Institute.

HEI has since become one of the largest ear and hearing-related research centers

in the world, and

also serves as the site for many ongoing scientific investigations. The

institute is dedicated to

discovering the causes of ear diseases, hearing loss, vestibular disorders and

developing treatments

for all kinds of hearing problems. It also has taken a leading role in the

creation of prosthetic

devices designed to counter the effect of hearing loss, as well as find

prosthetic and medical

solutions for many unsolved causes of deafness.

One of the Institute’s most recent achievements is the development and U.S. Food

and Drug

Administration (FDA) approval of the Nucleus 24 Multichannel Auditory Brainstem

Implant (or ABI).

The device is for use by patients who suffer from Neurofibromatosis Type II

(NF2). This condition

usually manifests in early adulthood, when tumors grow on both the right and

left auditory nerves

and sometimes other places in the body. Removal of the tumors often necessitates

the severing of the

auditory nerve, causing total deafness. The ABI is designed to stimulate the

region of the brainstem

that normally collects the electronic signals from the ear.

The Institute gained its international reputation for the development of the

single-channel cochlear

implant, first implanted in the U.S. by House’s brother, F.

House, MD, in 1960.

Today, an estimated 25-30,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants.

According to

House, at least 80% of the patients who are implanted today have functional

hearing capabilities to

the level where they can use the telephone with their implant. Through extensive

research, the

Institute has found the causes of many types of hearing loss and can even

prevent certain types of

hearing loss. In many cases, hearing in patients is restored surgically or is

improved through

medical treatments.

..................

For the full story and pictures:

http://www.hearingreview.com/articles.ASP?ArticleId=H0103F01