Project description
Tools to evaluate electrical cochlear implant performance
Cochlear dysfunction impacts millions worldwide. An electrical cochlear implant (eCI) can partially restore the sensation of hearing by stimulating the auditory nerve. However, eCI hearing differs from normal hearing. Users face challenges in understanding speech in noisy environments because the electrical signal activates numerous neurons, limiting perceptual channels. Optogenetics enables the stimulation of the auditory nerve through an optical cochlear implant (oCI). Despite promising clinical applications, there are challenges in development, including the need for a preclinical efficacy assessment tool. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the OPTOCODE project aims to develop tools for evaluating oCI performance in Mongolian gerbils using brainstem responses, predictive models and machine learning. This approach will expedite oCI development and enhance the clinical trials of optical neural implants.
Objective
Hearing loss affects millions of people worldwide. In cases of pronounced cochlear dysfunction, an electrical cochlear implant (eCI) can partially restore hearing sensation by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve. Until now, the eCI is the most successful and broadly used neuroprosthesis, with more than 1 million users worldwide (WHO, 2021). However, eCI hearing is far from normal: eCI users can typically not comprehend speech in noisy environments, because the electrical signal spreads widely and excites a large number of neurons of the auditory nerve, which limits the number of separate perceptual channels.
Using optogenetics, it is possible to stimulate the auditory nerve using an optical cochlear implant (oCI). As light spread can be better confined in space, oCIs offer lower spread of excitation and, hence, greater frequency selectivity. This way, future clinical oCIs promise more perceptual channels, allowing for more pitch appreciation and better understanding of speech in noise. However, there are many challenges in the development of the oCI en route to clinical application. Importantly, we are currently missing a holistic assessment tool for preclinical efficacy which could serve oCI optimization.
I will develop a set of methodological and computational tools to assess the oCI performance in vivo, in the Mongolian gerbil. First, I will use the brainstem responses to map the frequency activation of separate optical channels. Second, I will develop predictive models that derive the optogenetically and acoustically evoked responses of the midbrain, applying machine learning techniques. Third, I will use the above-mentioned tools to identify the optimal coding strategy for the oCI. This project will accelerate the development of the oCI, and provide benchmarking standards for the clinical trials of optical neural implants.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
37075 Goettingen
Germany