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I'm sure you've all heard of the cochlear implant - a small electronic device that helps otherwise deaf people to hear. Why not put a timer on them so that when the person with the implant wants to sleep they can turn off their hearing and have it automatically turn back on when they need to wake up?
Sure, fire alarms etc would become useless, but imagine the sleep you'd get if there was total silence!
It would also be useful in situations where you either have no choice but to be there or you just want the visuals without the sound:- family gatherings, church sermons, motorsport events, and during episodes of "Charmed".
How cochlear implants work
http://www.med.harv...mber4/Cochlear.html
An article which the author did not make the effort to locate. [waugsqueke, Oct 04 2004]
Laser machining
http://www.lambdaph...epages_id=31&mid=83
If the link doesn't work go to the main site and then the apps lab. My work is in the top right picture. [kbecker, Oct 04 2004]
Advanced Bionics
http://www.cochlear...imp_w_hear_coch.asp
An implant supplier, and explanation of how a cochlear implant works. [Apache, Oct 04 2004]
[link]
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For the hearing people there should be ear plugs with a timer. When the timer goes off a burst of compressed air blows out the plug and sound returns, well after the ringing from the burst wears off. |
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[kbecker]: Blow out the ear plug. Blow in the ear drum. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. |
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Cochlear implants use signals from an externally mounted microphone, which can be disconnected. |
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Yes, [waugsqueke], they can be disconnected but do they have a timer for reconnection? And, yes, I did make the effort to locate articles on how cochlear implants work but did not post them because the detailed workings of the implant, beyond what most people already know, are not of importance to this idea. |
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[Guncrazy] I see your point, that's why I made an allowance for ringing, but I don't think it would take a drum blowing explosion. |
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[Apache] I worked with people who tried to build cochlear implants. My part was micromachining electrodes using a test setup like that shown at (link). The potential customers were all very secretive. Even though there have been some individual sucesses, I don't think the systems work very well. |
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[kbecker], I don't doubt what you are saying, but I think the implants you were working on must have been for a different application than for the reinstatement of lost hearing. Cochlear implants for this purpose work very well and are not secretive at all, in fact they are very well publicised. Perhaps yours were for enhancement of hearing beyond normal human capabilities or for other uses, such as telecommunication? I'll post a link to Advanced Bionics, a supplier of cochlear implants. |
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