Flexible Implant Helps Hearing Loss

Oct-21-19 A soft and flexible auditory brainstem implant can conform to the curves of the body to help patients regain their hearing.

Auditory brainstem implants have been the standard treatment for people with inner ear or auditory nerve damage, but those rigid implants do not conform to most patients. As a more flexible alternative, a team from EPFL worked with other researchers to create an auditory brainstem implant made up of a network of bendable platinum electrodes embedded in silicon. To allow the platinum to bend without damage, the team etched a pattern inspired by kirigami into the metal—a technique the team believes could be applied to other implants that need to be positioned next to delicate tissue.

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[MEDGADGET.COM]
[ACTU.EPFL.CH]

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