Simulation-Based Design of New Implantable Hearing Device

fact, approximately 17% (36 million) of American adults report some degree of it. Moderate to severe hearing loss can be treated with a hearing aid. Beyond a certain level of hearing loss, a conventional hearing aid no longer provides a solution. For these cases, a hearing implant such as a bone conduction implant or a cochlear implant may be a solution. Cochlear Ltd., headquartered in Australia, has annual sales exceeding AUD 800 million and claims more than three-quarters of the market for such implants. Over the years, Cochlear Ltd. has helped more than 250,000 people in over 100 countries connect to a world of hearing, and the company is very involved in coming up with even better solutions. In 2011, it invested 13% of its revenues in R&D. “A recent development,” reports Dr. Patrik Kennes, CAE Engineer at the Cochlear Technology Center Belgium (CTCB), “is a completely new type of implantable hearing implant, a Direct Acoustic Cochlear Implant (DACI) called CodacsTM. It provides mechanical (acoustic) stimulations directly to the cochlea — and it’s a product our company developed from the ground up using COMSOL Multiphysics. While providing a new solution to people who suffer from severe to profound mixed hearing loss, this device fills the gap where a conventional hearing aid isn’t powerful enough. The unit is now in clinical trials, and the outcomes from this feasibility study are encouraging and confirm the design direction and viability of a commercial product.” Simulation-Based Design of New Implantable Hearing Device