Affiliations: [a] Harvard Medical School, Department of Otology and Laryngology, Boston, MA, USA | [b] Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA | [c] Neural Prosthesis Research Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA | [d] Jenks Vestibular Diagnostic Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA | [e] Jenks Vestibular Physiology Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, USA | [f] Legacy Health Care Systems, Portland, OR, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Conrad Wall III, Ph.D., Jenks Vestibular Diagnostic Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, USA. Tel.: +1 617 573 4153; Fax: +1 617 573 4154; E-mail: cwall@mit.edu
Abstract: Currently available data demonstrate the need for balance prostheses. Recent technological and biomedical advances now make it feasible to produce miniaturized sensors, signal processors, electric stimulators, and stimulating electrodes that are roughly analogous to a cochlear implant but which provide information about self motion, instead of sound. Many areas require work before balance prostheses become a reality. Some of these include: the development of a motion sensor array, the conversion of the sensed motion into physiologically meaningful information, the delivery of the transformed information to the CNS, the training of vestibular deficient individuals to use the prosthesis, and developing methods to evaluate the efficacy of the device. In this “white paper”, we consider these issues in the context of prototype baseline prosthetic devices.
