Jack Billings
Published: Monday, May 13, 2013
Source: saga.co.uk
Author: Lesley Dobson
Summary:
Scientists at Princeton University have developed an ear in their laboratories that can “hear” all of the sounds that a human ear can, but at a much larger range and with the addition of other waves (such as radio waves that are too high-pitched for a human ear to detect. The scientists are working on efficient and versatile ways to merge this dog-like electronic ear with human tissue. They used a 3D printer to construct the ear out of plastic and cells. This “bionic ear” has a coil antenna that the scientists have fused with cartilage to be used as both an antenna and a wire that may eventually be able to be connected to a human’s inner ear.
Connection:
This new innovation in hearing technology connects to our studies of the human nervous system. It helps synthesize the types of neurotransmitters in the ear that we discussed in our study of the peripheral and central nervous systems. The synthetic ear has two wires that go from the base of the ear and wind around the helical cochlea and can connect to electrodes. Like a hearing aid, the electrical signals from the synthetic ear could be connected to the patient’s nerve endings.
Are scientists interested in applying this new technology to groups whose hearing have been affected, such as the deaf?
ReplyDeleteYes. I believe that is the main focus of this project, but it is unclear how successful the synthetic ear would be for someone who is completely deaf.
DeleteDo you think it's beneficial to hear all of those different frequencies or will it just create more things to go through the human brain when/if these are used in people?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the ability to hear radio frequencies and other sound waves would be a very practical or useful aspect of this invention. I think it's mostly just meant to show how impressive it is that we can do that and how far technology has come in the past years.
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