UW News

May 16, 2002

Cochlear implants and their future

“The Future of Cochlear Implants” will be the topic for Prentice Bloedel Hearing Research Day, an afternoon of presentations on various aspects of the inner-ear implants used for profound deafness.

The program is sponsored by the UW’s Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center and Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. It will begin at 12:30 p.m., Monday, May 20, in room CD 150 of the Center on Human Development and Disability building with a welcome from Dr. George Gates, director of the hearing research center. No registration is necessary and everyone is welcome. Topics and speakers are:

“Some Likely Next Steps in the Further Development of Cochlear Prostheses,” by Dr. Dewey Lawson, director, Center for Auditory Prosthesis Research, Research Triangle Institute, N. C.

“Coding Strategies,” by Dr. Jay Rubenstein, associate professor of otolaryngology, physiology/biophysics and biomedical engineering at the University of Iowa.

“Intraneural Electrodes,” by Dr. H. Alexander Arts, associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

“Technology and Future Cochlear Implants,” by Drs. Ben Clopton and Francis Spelman, of Advanced Cochlear Systems in Snoqualmie and the UW.

“Optimizing Cochlear Implant Speech,” by Dr. Margaret Skinner, director of audiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

“Totally Implanted Cochlear Implants” by Dr. James Patrick, senior vice president, research and apolications, Cochlear Corp.

The day is named for Prentice Bloedel, who donated funds to establish the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center in honor of his late wife. He died in 1996.