Audiology features
Leadership in healthcare
There is often a great deal of confusion over the words ‘management’ and ‘leadership’. Sometimes they are used interchangeably. Sometimes they are used to represent opposite ends of a spectrum. Sometimes both are used as collective nouns, or to describe an activity.
Current management of unilateral sporadic vestibular schwannoma
Vestibular schwannoma is the commonest tumour of the cerebellopontine angle (80%) and accounts for around 8% of all intracranial tumours. The commonest primary presenting symptoms are audio vestibular. Hearing health professionals are often the first contact for patients with potential symptoms of vestibular schwannoma, with the majority then being seen and diagnosed by otorhinolaryngologists.
Current perspectives of tinnitus and its management
Whilst there are various therapeutic options for ameliorating the impact of tinnitus, there is no current approved treatment for attempting to eradicate, or even for reducing, the loudness of tinnitus.
Getting started in research
Dave had a passion for research and was very encouraging in developing a research interest in others. Bhavisha and Amanda are currently working with a team of researchers, patients, research funders, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, to develop the 2023-2028 UK Action Plan for Hearing loss and Tinnitus Research - a set of recommendations to grow hearing research in the UK. Here, they discuss their journey to hearing care research and how you could get involved in the world of research.
Implicit bias in audiology and wider healthcare
What is implicit bias and how might it affect patient outcomes in hearing healthcare? Yovina Khiroya provides insight into the terminology and the effect on people and service delivery. As much as possible within healthcare, we try to reduce implicit...
Paediatric auditory brainstem implant: overview and outcomes
Auditory brainstem implants were first used in adults with NF2. They have more recently become a technology option for children but what is the evidence to support this choice? This article discusses the evidence so far. Auditory brainstem implant is...
Management of single-sided deafness in adults: a bone conduction solution
Single-sided deafness (SSD) presents a limited number of methods for management, and not all of them meet the patient’s expectations. The aim of this article is to set out the available bone-conduction treatment methods for managing single‑sided deafness in adults....
Innovations in remote/teleaudiology patient care
Audiometry remains the gold standard in hearing evaluations. Changes in the delivery of audiometry remain a key challenge in providing a telehealth approach to hearing care. The team at Lyon University Hospital validated an innovative approach to solving this challenge,...
Aided cortical assessment: uses in a paediatric hearing implant centre
When can an aided cortical assessment help decision making in a child’s hearing journey? In this article, the author demonstrates the application using an enlightening case study approach. A device, be it a conventional hearing aid or hearing implant, ideally,...
Mind the gap – developing a sustainable pipeline for hearing therapeutics
In this article, the authors describe three key challenges faced in developing hearing therapeutics. Collaboration between companies, sectors and disciplines will be key to finding solutions. The unmet need for therapies for hearing loss grows apace, with prevalence rising across...
Microneedles enable inner ear precision medicine
Developing safe, reliable and efficient ways to deliver therapeutics into the cochlea is a key challenge. In this article, the authors share their work to develop microneedles to address this challenge. The era of precision medicine of the inner ear...
Cell therapies for hearing loss
Cell therapies could offer a way to repair damage to the auditory system and reverse many types of hearing loss. This article looks at the progress being made.
