GAINESVILLE, FL -- Judy Martin has only recently been able to enjoy the sweet sounds of her baby birds.
"All of a sudden, I heard all this little chattering again. It was astounding."
A case of the measles at age 7 robbed Judy of her hearing and put her in a world of silence.
"You do get isolated."
3-years-ago, Judy got a cochlear implant, an electrical device that's implanted in her head and stimulates auditory nerves.
"It’s a wonderful device, but it's not perfect."
Some sounds are still muffled, something engineer Lee Krause knows from personal experience. He's suffered hearing loss for 20 years and also wears an implant.
"There would be times where it just wasn't worth concentrating anymore. It was just too hard."
Along with 2 doctors, he developed software that customizes the implant to each person's hearing ability. Instead of using tones to test range, the computer uses the most common syllables in the English language.
Patients repeat what they hear and the program compares the person's responses with the computer's voice. Then it designs a setting to boost the sounds they struggle with.
"We're able to say where is her error."
"I love classical music, but now with this new programming I could pick out the individual instruments."
Judy's not hesitant about starting up conversations, which may mean a lot more work for her husband.
For more information, please contact:
University of Florida
Health Science Center
Jill Pease
(352) 273-5816
Jpease@phhp.ufl.edu
