European Federation of Organisations for medical physics (EFOMP) policy statement no 20: The role of medical physicists and medical physics experts in physiological measurement and related therapies.

The role of medical physics professionals (MPPs) (medical physicists and medical physics experts) in physiological measurement and related therapies (PM&T) applied in e.g., critical care, neurophysiology, neurology, physiology, audiology, and neurotology has long been acknowledged.

Cochlear Implantation With Sporadic Inner Ear Schwannomas: Outcomes in 106 Patients From an International Multi-Institutional Study.

Objective: To evaluate cochlear implant speech perception among patients with sporadic inner ear schwannoma who underwent ipsilateral implantation.

Study Design: Retrospective multi-institutional cohort study.

Setting: Eleven tertiary academic medical centers across Germany, Denmark, and the United States.

Superior semicircular canal dehiscence isolation by transmastoid two-point canal plugging with preservation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex.

This article describes the surgical treatment of superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) by isolating the dehiscence using transmastoid two-point canal plugging while preserving the high-frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) of the affected semicircular canal. The superior semicircular canal is opened via a transmastoid approach anterior (as far from the ampulla as possible) and posterior to the dehiscence and then plugged with connective tissue and bone dust. In two clinical exemplary cases, vestibular testing showed that the VOR measured by video head impulse (vHIT) test was preserved (patient 1: gain preoperative 0.

[Superior semicircular canal dehiscence isolation by transmastoid two-point canal plugging with preservation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. German version].

This article describes the surgical treatment of superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) by isolating the dehiscence using transmastoid two-point canal plugging while preserving the high-frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) of the affected semicircular canal. The superior semicircular canal is opened via a transmastoid approach anterior (as far from the ampulla as possible) and posterior to the dehiscence and then plugged with connective tissue and bone dust. In two clinical exemplary cases, vestibular testing showed that the VOR measured by video head impulse (vHIT) test was preserved (patient 1: gain preoperative 0.

Stimulation conditions leading to electrical vestibular co-stimulation in cochlear implant users.

Objectives: The study objective was to investigate the influence of electrical stimulus properties on cervical and ocular vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials to electrical stimulation by cochlear implants (e-cVEMPs, e-oVEMPs).

Methods: E-VEMPs were recorded in adult Nucleus cochlear implant (CI) patients using electric pulse trains (4 biphasic pulses at 1000 Hz burst rate). Ground path and stimulation electrodes were varied between monopolar stimulation at basal electrode contact E3 (MP1 + 2 E3), monopolar stimulation at apical electrode contact E20 (MP1 + 2 E20), and bipolar transmodiolar stimulation between E3 and E14 (BP E3-E14).

Cochlear implantation in patients with inner ear schwannomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis of audiological outcomes.

Purpose: In patients with inner ear schwannomas (IES), reports on hearing rehabilitation with cochlear implants (CI) have increased over the past decade, most of which are case reports or small case series. The aim of this study is to systematically review the reported hearing results with CI in patients with IES considering the different audiologic outcome measures used in different countries.

Methods: According to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline, a search of published literature was conducted.

Enhancing Cochlear Implant Outcomes across Age Groups: The Interplay of Forward Focus and Advanced Combination Encoder Coding Strategies in Noisy Conditions.

Hearing in noise is challenging for cochlear implant users and requires significant listening effort. This study investigated the influence of ForwardFocus and number of maxima of the Advanced Combination Encoder (ACE) strategy, as well as age, on speech recognition threshold and listening effort in noise. A total of 33 cochlear implant recipients were included (age ≤ 40 years: = 15, >40 years: = 18).

Unilateral Multifocal Inner Ear and Internal Auditory Canal or Cerebellopontine Angle Cochleovestibular Schwannomas-Genetic Analysis and Management by Surgical Resection and Cochlear Implantation.

Objective: To describe the genetic characteristics and the management of two very rare cases of unilateral multifocal inner ear and internal auditory canal or cerebellopontine angle cochleovestibular schwannomas not being associated to full neurofibromatosis type 2-related schwannomatosis.

Patients: In a 29-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman with single-sided deafness multifocal unilateral cochleovestibular schwannomas were surgically resected, and hearing was rehabilitated with a cochlear implant (CI). Unaffected tissue was analyzed using next generation sequencing of the NF2 gene.

Influence of the Spread of the Electric Field on Speech Recognition in Cochlear Implant Users.

Objective: To investigate the correlation of word recognition with cochlear implant (CI) and spread of the electric field.

Study Design: Prospective, noninterventional, experimental study.

Setting: A tertiary referral center.

Zig-zag structures in silver dichromate precipitate.

Precipitation patterns are commonly concentric rings forming in a Petri dish or parallel bands appearing in a test tube (Liesegang phenomenon). The rings frequently consist of a number of convex segments that are separated from each other by spaces devoid of precipitate resulting in small gaps (dislocations). Along these gaps, the so-called zig-zag structures can form, which connect one side of a gap with its opposite side.

Influence of Age on Speech Recognition in Noise and Hearing Effort in Listeners with Age-Related Hearing Loss.

The aim of this study was to measure how age affects the speech recognition threshold (SRT) of the Oldenburg Sentence Test (OLSA) and the listening effort at the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The study also investigated the effect of the spatial configuration of sound sources and noise signals on SRT and SNR. To achieve this goal, the study used olnoise and icra5 noise presented from one or more spatial locations from the front and back.

Is there an influence of perceptual or cognitive impairment on complex sentence processing in hearing aid users?

Background: Hearing-impaired listeners often have difficulty understanding complex sentences. It is not clear if perceptual or cognitive deficits have more impact on reduced language processing abilities, and how a hearing aid might compensate for that.

Methods: In a prospective study with 5 hearing aid users and 5 normal hearing, age-matched participants, processing of complex sentences was investigated.

An analysis of the spread of electric field within the cochlea for different devices including custom-made electrodes for subtotal cochleoectomy.

Objective: Cochlear implants (CIs) can restore hearing not only in patients with profound hearing loss and deafness, but also in patients following tumour removal of intra-cochlear schwannomas. In such cases, design and placement differ from conventional electrode insertion, in which the cochlea remains filled with fluid. Despite these technical and surgical differences, previous studies have tended to show positive results in speech perception in tumour patients.

Electrically evoked mismatch negativity responses to loudness and pitch cues in cochlear implant users.

Objective measurements could improve cochlear implant (CI) fitting, especially for CI users who have difficulty assessing their hearing impressions. In this study, we investigated the electrically evoked mismatch negativity (eMMN) brain potential as a mainly preattentive response to pitch and loudness changes. In an electrophysiological exploratory study with 21 CI users, pitch and loudness cues were presented in controlled oddball paradigms that directly electrically stimulated the CI via software.

Safety and audiological outcome in a case series of tertiary therapy of sudden hearing loss with a biodegradable drug delivery implant for controlled release of dexamethasone to the inner ear.

Background: Intratympanic injections of glucocorticoids have become increasingly common in the treatment of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL). However, due to their fast elimination, sustained applications have been suggested for local drug delivery to the inner ear.

Materials And Methods: The study is based on a retrospective chart review of patients treated for ISSHL at a single tertiary (university) referral center.

Individual computer-assisted 3D planning for placement of auricular prosthesis anchors in combination with an implantable transcutaneous bone conduction hearing device in patients with aural atresia.

Background: The simultaneous implantation of the Bonebridge (MED-EL, Innsbruck, Austria), a semi-implantable active transcutaneous bone conduction hearing device and anchors for auricular prostheses can be challenging as both implants contain magnets and compete for the narrow space in the designated implantation area.

Material And Methods: A preoperative planning tool (virtual surgery) was used with individual 3D computer models of the skull and implants for finding optimal implant positions for both the floating mass transducer (FMT) and the anchors for the auricular prosthesis. The interaction between the magnetic prosthesis anchors and the FMT was measured by means of static magnetic forces.