An oral retainer that reverberates sound to the tongue -- bypassing the ear -- could help those with substantial hearing loss, according to scientists at Colorado State University.
It works with a corresponding Bluetooth earpiece that detects the sound and sends it in the form of electrical impulses to the retainer, which receives them by means of its electrodes.
Pressing the retainer against the tongue is all it takes to "hear," according to the study, which remains to be published as the research team is pursuing further experimentation.
"It's much simpler than undergoing surgery and we think it will be a lot less expensive than cochlear implants," says project leader John Williams, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
According to Williams, the tongue contains thousands of nerves and the region of the brain that interacts with it is capable of decoding complex messages.
"What we are trying to do is another form of sensory substitution," says Williams.
The human brain is more malleable than most people think and does not remain set in its ways after adulthood, says Leslie Stone-Roy, Williams' colleague and assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences.
"We have a remarkable amount of plasticity in our brain even as adults," she says. "We now know that is able to make changes and adapt to changes in incoming information, especially stimuli that are of importance to the individual."
