Evaluating cortical responses to speech in children: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study.

Functional neuroimaging of speech processing has both research and clinical potential. This work is facilitating an ever-increasing understanding of the complex neural mechanisms involved in the processing of speech. Neural correlates of speech understanding also have potential clinical value, especially for infants and children, in whom behavioural assessments can be unreliable.

Recommended Personal Protective Equipment for Cochlear Implant and Other Mastoid Surgery During the COVID-19 Era.

Objectives/hypothesis: The overall aim of this study was to evaluate personal protective equipment (PPE) that may facilitate the safe recommencement of cochlear implantation in the COVID-19 era, with the broader goal of minimizing the period of auditory deprivation in prelingually deaf children and reducing the risk of cochlear ossification in individuals following meningitis.

Methods: The study design comprised 1) an objective assessment of mastoid drilling-induced droplet spread conducted during simulated cochlear implant (CI) surgery and its mitigation via the use of a protective drape tent and 2) an evaluation of three PPE configurations by otologists while performing mastoid drilling on ex vivo temporal bones. The various PPE solutions were assessed in terms of their impact on communication, vital physiological parameters, visual acuity and fields, and acceptability to surgeons using a systematic risk-based approach.

Cortical correlates of speech intelligibility measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

Functional neuroimaging has identified that the temporal, frontal and parietal cortex support core aspects of speech processing. An objective measure of speech intelligibility based on cortical activation in these brain regions would be extremely useful to speech communication and hearing device applications. In the current study, we used noise-vocoded speech to examine cortical correlates of speech intelligibility in normally-hearing listeners using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a non-invasive, neuroimaging technique that is fully-compatible with hearing devices, including cochlear implants.

Hold your horses: A comparison of human laryngomalacia with analogous equine airway pathology.

Objectives: Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants. Dynamic airway collapse is also a well-recognised entity in horses and an important cause of surgical veterinary intervention. We compare the aetiology, clinical features and management of human laryngomalacia with equine dynamic airway collapse.