Research Overview

The Bionic Ear Institute, with its partners, is working to create a new generation of Bionic Ears that go further restoring hearing to a near-normal level.

In developing the Bionic Ear, we have learned much about nanotechnology and biotechnology including: tolerance of surgical implants by the body; interfacing electronic devices with nerves and the brain; improving speech understanding and language in deaf people; and even repairing nerves. In short, we have become leaders in the practical application of bionics and nanotechnology in medicine.

Today we are applying this biomaterials knowledge not only to hearing, but also to tackling spinal injury, epilepsy, and other medical challenges that face our society.

Auditory Neurobiology

This research division aims to improve communication for people with hearing loss by improving the interface between the world of sound and the central auditory nervous system. This involves the interconnection of technology and biology, and the processing of speech which is an important aspect of human communication.

Auditory Physiology and Perception

A cochlear implant allows people to hear by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve. Ideally, this electrical stimulation would precisely mimic the signal normally produced by sound (acoustical stimulation) in normal hearing. However, currently we can only approximate this with electrical stimulation. As a result many people with Bionic Ears cannot hear as well as normal listeners. Research in this unit is seeking to close this gap by designing electrical stimulation strategies that will more closely mimic acoustical stimulation

ACES Bionics Program

We’ve learnt how to create an interface between electronics and the nerves – and to use it to deliver meaningful signals to the brain. In the same way, we may be able to create bionic implants that will “bypass” nerve injuries to the spinal cord. We’ve started to teach nerve cells in the inner ear to resprout and repair themselves. We may be able to do the same with spinal cord nerve cells.

Neuro-Engineering

Neuroengineering is defined as the interdisciplinary field of engineering and computational approaches, applied to problems in basic and clinical neuroscience. It involves the development of mathematical models and computational analyses of neural systems. Historically, the Bionic Ear Institute has conducted research investigating cochlear implant speech processing strategies. This continues today, however, broadening into new branches of medical bionics at the Bionic Ear Institute, a Neuroengineering approach is being applied to other neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

Bionic Eye

We are working on developing a bionic implant capable of restoring vision to people suffering from eye diseases such as macula degeneration, which is responsible for 48% of all blindness in Australia. This bionic implant is referred to as a retinal prosthesis or a Bionic Eye. Our main objective initially is to address the key biocompatibility and efficacy issues associated with a high resolution Bionic Eye. This new technology could potentially allow vision impaired people to regain some or all of their eyesight, therefore improving their quality of life.

Bionic Technologies Australia

Bionic Technologies Australia is a joint venture established between the Bionic Ear Institute, St.Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne), CSIRO Molecular & Health Technologies, CSIRO Textile & Fibre Technology, The University of Wollongong and Polynovo. Bionic Technologies Australia seeks to act as a catalyst to bring together the collective capabilities of its members to deliver the next generation bionic products through outcome-focused research. The research topics include: Peripheral Nerve Repair; Infection Control for Implantable Devices and Early Treatment of epileptic with anti-epileptic devices.