Advancement in CI Technology?

AL-KHAWARIZMI

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Has anyone heard of the most recent advancements in the CI Technology? If so, what is it? The only things I've seen were incremental improvements, as well as evolutionary move in shrinking the size of the processor along with the new "programming features".

It doesn't seem to me that it has improved that much in the last 20 years. I've been looking into getting one for myself, but wanted to make sure that I had something that was "worth-while".

Personally I'm not crazy about having something sit on my ear, or that magnetic device stick to the side of my head. It would simply stick out of my head like a sore thumb. I have a short hair, so therefore it's not just simply a case of covering up the magnetic device with some hair.

Does anyone know when a completely powered innard-CI would be available?

Praise Umanita!

~Al-Khawarizmi
 
In Melbourne, Australia -- Dr Graeme Clark, the pioneer of cochlear implants and his team are busy working on regenerating the cili hairs in the cochlea and revive dead cilia hair and nerves. That was a few years ago, still working on it.
 
I heard about cili hairs. They are still working on it. I rather not get it because of my concerns on medical risks, so I accept my deafness though.

However, I rather Star Trek or God to do a miracle work to cure my dead cili hairs. Boom!! There you go, you are hearing again. :naughty:
 
Check out Hearing Exchange for the latest on CIs.
The latest developments that I've heard of are: completely self-contained CI (no visable parts) and CI MEMS which are CIs that sound more like what hearing people hear.
It would simply stick out of my head like a sore thumb. I have a short hair, so therefore it's not just simply a case of covering up the magnetic device with some hair.
I understand where you're coming from, as I went through being self-conscieous about my aids being visable, (I even decided to switch to ITEs back in junoir high b/c I was so self-consceious about my aids) I then went back to BTEs a few years ago, and I have never worried about cosmetics since! (as a matter of fact I now have a colored earmold and have decorated the aid itself!) Why not? Go for it! You'd be trading in self-consciousness for HEARING BETTER!!!! I totally know how you feel...but most of the time people don't even notice CIs/hearing aids! I've got short "butch dyke" hair and virtually NOONE notices my aids!
 
Scary

I couldn't like to have my hair cell grow inside my both ears. Afriad that hair cells are out of control and made long crawl out the ear hole. It similars like bald head that can re grow. I didn't like that idea.. I rather stick with implantion instead of regrow.. i can't risk that one..
 
ideafspy said:
I couldn't like to have my hair cell grow inside my both ears. Afriad that hair cells are out of control and made long crawl out the ear hole. It similars like bald head that can re grow. I didn't like that idea.. I rather stick with implantion instead of regrow.. i can't risk that one..

:lol: Funny picture you painted with that concern of yours in regards of the cili hairs growing long and out of the ears. I doubt that'll be a problem at all...I'm quite confident the scientists and people working on this type of technology would've thought of that and looked for a way to prevent that from happening. :mrgreen:
 
Link?

WaterRats13 said:
:lol: Funny picture you painted with that concern of yours in regards of the cili hairs growing long and out of the ears. I doubt that'll be a problem at all...I'm quite confident the scientists and people working on this type of technology would've thought of that and looked for a way to prevent that from happening. :mrgreen:


Do you mind attaching an url regarding the information on cili hair growth research to this thread? I would appreciate it very much.


Praise Umanita!

~Al-Khawarizmi
 
Nope, it's a link to another forum.
Personally, I doubt that hair cell regrowth will ever become a reality.
They've been working on trying to cure cancer, muscluar dystrophies, spinal cord injuries etc. for ages, and there still haven't been too many advances. I know folks who were told that a cure was just around the corner when they became quads. (quaduplics)This was 20 years ago, and they are STILL quads! There has been increased interest as of late, (b/c of the whole Christopher Reeve thing) but just b/c a foundation has a celeb spokesperson, it doesn't mean that it will accomplish anything much.
Look at the MDA Telethon...it's raised tons and tons of money, and I hear that not too much of it goes to research. As a matter of fact I heard recently, (from someone who worked at MDA) that Jerry has used quite a bit of the research funds for umm...personal use (and let's just say he could be an Enron CEO)
Also, pro-cure hearing loss folk, miss the fact that CIs and hearing aids make a ton of money! There's really no way that people can make tons of money off of hair-cell regrowth. It's a one time only thing. Whereas money can be made up the wazoo on CIs and aids...batteries, speech and A/V therapy and so on.
Also, there is no evidence as of yet, that this will work in humans.
I'm just very skeptical and cynical....Hey maybe it will work, but maybe it will cause weird side effects or something. I don't think we should look forward to hair cell regrowth becoming a reality any time soon.
 
deafdyke said:
Check out Hearing Exchange for the latest on CIs.
The latest developments that I've heard of are: completely self-contained CI (no visable parts) and CI MEMS which are CIs that sound more like what hearing people hear.

What web addy for hearing exchange?
 
How do we know that hair cell regeneration will even work? What if it has unintended side effects? Like it could cause cancer of the coachla b/c of too rapid cell growth or autoimmune disorders. Actually...isn't there a type of hearing loss, where there's an overabundance of hair cells in the coachlea?
And what about "curing" genetic deaf/hoh syndromes? Maybe there's a positive side to the syndromes...sort of the way the gene for cystic fibrosis kept it's carriers from getting chorlera/dysentry or the gene for sickle cell animia kept it's carriers from getting malaria or whatever.
Besides, IMHO money would be better spent on finding cures for things like cancer, Duchenne Muscluar Dystropy, Aleizheimer's, mental retardation, Lou Gerig's Disease, brain injuiry, Huntington's Disease (the thing that Woody Guthrie died of), depression (something that personally significently effects my life:( ) bipolar, sciezophernia and many other diseases and disorders! These are diseases that are HORRIBLE and cannot be adapted to or lived with. Being deaf/hoh blind/low vision, a wheelchair user, a walker/crutches user or having any other classic/traditional disabilty is a piece of cake compared to the disorders I just listed!
 
deafdyke said:
How do we know that hair cell regeneration will even work? What if it has unintended side effects? Like it could cause cancer of the coachla b/c of too rapid cell growth or autoimmune disorders. Actually...isn't there a type of hearing loss, where there's an overabundance of hair cells in the coachlea?
And what about "curing" genetic deaf/hoh syndromes? Maybe there's a positive side to the syndromes...sort of the way the gene for cystic fibrosis kept it's carriers from getting chorlera/dysentry or the gene for sickle cell animia kept it's carriers from getting malaria or whatever.
Besides, IMHO money would be better spent on finding cures for things like cancer, Duchenne Muscluar Dystropy, Aleizheimer's, mental retardation, Lou Gerig's Disease, brain injuiry, Huntington's Disease (the thing that Woody Guthrie died of), depression (something that personally significently effects my life:( ) bipolar, sciezophernia and many other diseases and disorders! These are diseases that are HORRIBLE and cannot be adapted to or lived with. Being deaf/hoh blind/low vision, a wheelchair user, a walker/crutches user or having any other classic/traditional disabilty is a piece of cake compared to the disorders I just listed!

we got to take one step at a time. I think sensorineural hearing loss is a simpler disease in nature compared to many of the diseases you listed above. If scientists are able to regenerate haircell, it is very possible the next time they are going to do is to regenerate a large part of central nervous system or deal with the neurochemical imbalance of Hungtinton's and Alzehimer's disease.
 
Kalboy...you missed my point completely. Hearing loss and most traditional disabilties are not that big a deal. Why should we find cures for disabilties?
Disabilties can be adapted to and lived with! People can live rich full lives with disabilties. Many dis rights activists reject the traditional view of "disabilty" as "limiting" and argue that "attitude is the REAL disabilty!" and that people should focus more on accepting their disabilties, as a nautral OK part of themselves that doesn't need to be cured or fixed...
I can do anything except hear like a hearing person....(and a lot of hearies have told me that they envy me b/c I can turn off my hearing with a flick of a switch)
I know many deaf/hoh people have wondered what it would be like to be able to hear like a hearing person....however maybe it wouldn't be as great as you'd think. Ever seen that movie, At First Sight where the blind guy regains his vison and it turns out that seeing isn't that big of a deal? (it was based on a true story BTW)
 
deafdyke said:
Kalboy...you missed my point completely. Hearing loss and most traditional disabilties are not that big a deal. Why should we find cures for disabilties?
Why should scientists find cures for disabilities? Let me tell you why. It is about giving people choices. The scientists are not going to chase you down the street and drag you back to the hospital and regenerate your haircell once they find a cure. The cure is going to be available for those who what to improve the quality of their lives. It is what so great about this country, we have the ability to give opportunities. It is up to the individual to decide whether they what the cure or not. If they are happy with sitting on their wheelchairs all day, so be it, if they decided to go out for a walk, they have the choice to do so. This applies to deafness as well.

Scientists are probably not worried about curing deafness or other kind of disabilities when they work in the laboratories. They are more concerned about the problem going on at a microscope level. In contrary, it is more likely that businesses are interested to apply those technologies to cure diseases and to make profits.

Disabilties can be adapted to and lived with! People can live rich full lives with disabilties. Many dis rights activists reject the traditional view of "disabilty" as "limiting" and argue that "attitude is the REAL disabilty!" and that people should focus more on accepting their disabilties, as a nautral OK part of themselves that doesn't need to be cured or fixed...
Of course, I agree with you here. But what about living a RICHER life? If you haven’t taste the grape, how do you know if it is sour?

I can do anything except hear like a hearing person....(and a lot of hearies have told me that they envy me b/c I can turn off my hearing with a flick of a switch)
they have ear plugs.

I know many deaf/hoh people have wondered what it would be like to be able to hear like a hearing person....however maybe it wouldn't be as great as you'd think. Ever seen that movie, At First Sight where the blind guy regains his vison and it turns out that seeing isn't that big of a deal? (it was based on a true story BTW)

again, this doesn't apply to everyone. It is about finding cures and making them available. And you know what? You can find aminoglycoside in Mexico if you want to reverse the effect.
 
It is about giving people choices. The scientists are not going to chase you down the street and drag you back to the hospital and regenerate your haircell once they find a cure. The cure is going to be available for those who what to improve the quality of their lives. It is what so great about this country, we have the ability to give opportunities. It is up to the individual to decide whether they what the cure or not.
On the other hand what if they undergo the cure, and then realize that being hearing/able-bodied/seeing isn't that big of a deal? There's no way to go back to being deaf/blind/wheelchair user after the "cure" I speak from experiance...My loss is conductive and potentionally curable through surgery. I did undergo sugery b/c I thought I wanted to be hearing...It was not as good as I thought it was going to be. I actually wish that I had never undergone the surgery in the first place.

But what about living a RICHER life? If you haven’t taste the grape, how do you know if it is sour?
On the other hand, how would you know that hearing is all that? I can understand, wanting this if you were a late deafie or had a progressive loss, but what if you had never experianced hearing like a hearing person? I don't think ANY born/early(before age one) deafened/hoh people know what it's like nereologically speaking, to hear as a hearing person, rather then a deaf/hoh person.
they have ear plugs
Not the same by a LONG shot...I have a conductive loss plus a central loss. Plus, earplugs aren't permanent.
 
deafdyke said:
Kalboy...you missed my point completely. Hearing loss and most traditional disabilties are not that big a deal. Why should we find cures for disabilties?
Disabilties can be adapted to and lived with! People can live rich full lives with disabilties. Many dis rights activists reject the traditional view of "disabilty" as "limiting" and argue that "attitude is the REAL disabilty!" and that people should focus more on accepting their disabilties, as a nautral OK part of themselves that doesn't need to be cured or fixed...
I can do anything except hear like a hearing person....(and a lot of hearies have told me that they envy me b/c I can turn off my hearing with a flick of a switch)
I know many deaf/hoh people have wondered what it would be like to be able to hear like a hearing person....however maybe it wouldn't be as great as you'd think. Ever seen that movie, At First Sight where the blind guy regains his vison and it turns out that seeing isn't that big of a deal? (it was based on a true story BTW)


I'm a deaf person who use to hear. I live in a hearing world, my family hears and I do not have a deaf culture or fellowship with the deaf. I do not even know many deaf people. I am not unhappy being deaf, but I do know what it is like to hear and I would like to be able to hear again. I do feel left out sometimes. My hearing aids are not so good anymore and I'm hoping for a CI, but if they come up with somthing even better I would like that too. But again it doesn't hurt (Physically) being deaf and if that my only problem then who am I to complain.
 
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