About the Bionic Ear
University of Melbourne researcher Joe Tong (left) with George Watson,
one of the
first recipients of a cochlear implant, who assisted with initial research.
George is holding the first portable speech processing unit.
Previously recipients had
to be connected to the large computer in the background.
HISTORY
The Australian bionic ear is the result of pioneering research commenced by Professor Graeme Clark and his team in the late 1960s at the University of Melbourne Department of Otolaryngology.
At the time scientists said that a successful bionic ear or cochlear implant was not possible in the foreseeable future. This made it difficult to get funding and Professor Clark and his staff had to seek donations from the general public to establish the work. The help of clubs such as Rotary, Lions and Apex was invaluable at this time.
The prototype multiple-electrode bionic ear was implanted in the first adult at The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital by Professor Graeme Clark and colleagues in 1978. The team discovered how to analyse the complex speech signal and present it as electrical stimulation to the hearing nerve so that speech could be understood. In addition, they were successful in engineering a speech processor small enough for the patient to wear.
As a result of this ground-breaking research, the Australian Government awarded a public interest grant that helped develop the bionic ear industrially by the Australian firm Cochlear Limited. The first device for clinical trial world-wide was implanted at The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in 1982. The international trial established that it was safe and effective and it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1985, the first multiple-electrode bionic ear to be approved by any world regulatory body.
In 1985, the team implanted the first child with a multiple-electrode bionic ear. This bionic ear was developed industrially by Cochlear Limited in co-operation with The University of Melbourne and The Bionic Ear Institute. This was the start of a world-wide trial for the bionic ear and its use in young children. It was approved as safe and effective for use in children born deaf for developing hearing early in life by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1990.
The Australian bionic ear has now been implanted in more than 110,000 people in more than 120 countries.