Hearing Tech Advances
Three areas of ongoing research from around the world. Hearing Aids of the Future Uses Brainwaves to Isolate a Single Speaker Current hearing aid technology lacks the precision to isolate the voice of the individual speaking directly to the hearing aid user. At best, it can suppress background noise or amplify the voice of the…
Our Current Research Efforts
• Improving the accuracy of acoustic tumor tissue dissection and the preservation of essential structures • Increasing sound perception for cochlear implant users • Assessing symptoms of neurofibromatosis type 2, including quality of life and hand function • Genetic and molecular analysis of neurofibromatosis type 2 tumors • Improving medical management of patients with vestibular…
The Little Things — Darlene’s 50-Year Journey with Hearing Loss
By Javia Headley, Marketing Communications Manager When Darlene Fragale first started losing her hearing in the 1960s, there were not many options for otosclerosis patients like her to regain their sense of sound. Otosclerosis occurs when a middle ear bone grows abnormally, disrupting the path sound would travel. Darlene was in her thirties when she…
The House Clinical Fellowship: Then
By Dr. William M. Luxford, MD 2021 will mark my 40th year as an associate of the House Ear Clinic. My interest in problems with hearing began years before my House fellowship. My mother became severely hearing impaired in the first few years after her birth in 1922. The cause of her impairment was never…
75 Years of Research at House
• 1947 – Fenestration and double blue line technique for otosclerosis • 1956 – Standardization of noise-induced hearing loss • 1961 – Middle fossa removal of an acoustic neuroma • 1961 – Cochlear implant prototype • 1969 – Translabyrinthine removal of an acoustic neuroma • 1972 – First wearable cochlear implant • 1981 – Pediatric…
Meniere’s Disease Drug Trial
By M. Jennifer Derebery, MD Meniere’s Disease is one of the House Institute Foundation’s (HIF) primary areas of research. Its symptoms include episodic bouts of severe vertigo, unstable sensorineural hearing loss, ear fullness, and tinnitus. Although first described in 1861, the cause of Meniere’s Disease is still unknown. There are many theories, including viral, allergic,…
Using MRI Technology to Outline Treatment Options
By Sarah Hodge, MD and Mia E. Miller, MD Part of our goal at House is to find ways to best inform our patients about the course of their care. Imaging studies can help us with these predictions. Utilizing MRI technology, vestibular schwannomas are not only diagnosed, but their characteristics can be studied to help…
The Next 75 Years
It is a fascinating time in history to be asked what the future holds. The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the world of health care—from wearing masks and strengthening systemic control precautions to implementing universal preoperative testing and virtual meetings. It would be easier to make predictions if we had not been in such a different…
The Past 75 Years
When my father, Howard P. House, MD, finished his residency in 1937, he traveled to various centers of excellence in the US and Europe, where he spent 18 months watching and learning from the leaders in the field of ear, nose and throat. Howard even met Julius Lempert, MD, a physician in New York who…