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Schematic of the inner ear
Inner ear disorders affecting hearing and balance disorders are increasingly recognized as a widespread issue, with 40 percent of patients over 40 and more than two-thirds of people over 60 experiencing some form of dizziness or loss of balance. The difficulty with inner ear disorders is that in many cases little is known about their cause, which severely affects our ability to identify and manage the disorders.
An essential aspect of the development of the Australian Temporal Bone Bank (ATBB) has been collaboration with Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (MEEI). MEEI has earned an international reputation for treating the most difficult diseases and conditions of the eye, ear, and nose.
The main goals of this project are to:
1. Establish a Bionic Ear Temporal Bone Bank within the Department of Otolaryngology, University of Melbourne.
2. Perform the histopathological analysis on the inner ears of people with cochlear implants and other individuals with vestibular problems.