5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The Auditory Nerve Test System (ANTS) is a novel device that stimulates the auditory nerve much like a cochlear implant. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate feasibility of the ANTS during translabyrinthine surgery for vestibular schwannoma resection. If the auditory nerve is kept intact, then the patients will also receive a cochlear implant at the same time potentially alleviating the morbidities caused by a vestibular schwannoma and asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss.
This is a study of the feasibility of activating the auditory system by an electrode in direct contact with the cochlear nerve.
Current treatment options for bilateral profoundly deaf children, diagnosed with inner ear anatomical abnormalities, are limited and, in the case of absent cochleas, non-existent. An auditory brainstem implant (ABI) places an electrode close to the auditory nucleus in the brainstem. Children aged 2 - 5 who are not candidates for a cochlear implant, or who did not demonstrate benefit from a cochlear implant, will be implanted with an ABI and followed for 1 year for safety and a total of 3 years for preliminary efficacy. This is a feasibility study to determine the safety of the ABI.
To purpose of this feasibility study is to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the Nucleus 24 Multichannel Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI, Cochlear Corp, Sydney, AUS) in children without the diagnosis of neurofibromatosis type II (NFII) that have either experienced failed cochlear implantation (CI) or have been unable to receive a CI secondary to cochlear or cochlear nerve disorders. These conditions can include: developmental or acquired cochlear nerve deficiency (CND), cochlear aplasia (Michel), post-meningitic cochlear ossification or cochlear malformation. This study proposes to implant up to 10 young children (\<5 yrs. of age) with the Nucleus 24 Multichannel ABI (Sydney, AUS) in an attempt to demonstrate safety of the surgical procedure, tolerance of device stimulation, and the potential for auditory benefit beyond that experienced with their CI. This study will provide the preliminary experience for a larger scale clinical trial. Aim 1: Demonstrate the safety of ABI surgery in children. Aim 2: Demonstrate the development of sound awareness and improved speech understanding among children implanted with the ABI when compared to their baseline skills. Aim 3: Demonstrate the development of oral language skills following the use of the ABI that were not evident prior to its use.
Tumors arising from the VIIIth Nerve (vestibulo-cochlear nerve) typically present with progressive unilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. VIIIth Nerve tumors with documented growth on serial MRI scans typically lead to deafness in the affected ear over time. Radiation (Gamma Knife® or stereotactic radiosurgery) may preserve hearing in \~80% while surgery (middle cranial fossa or retrosigmoid approach) may preserve hearing in 16 - 40% of small tumors, although initial hearing preservation by both modalities may fail over time. Surgical resection via the translabyrinthine approach is the safest way to remove many of these tumors, but involves loss of all hearing. In all treatment modalities, the vascular supply (the labyrinthine artery, a terminal branch of AICA with no collaterals) to the cochlea is at risk. After devascularization, the cochlea frequently fills with fibrous tissue or ossifies (labyrinthitis ossificans), making it impossible to place a cochlear implant should it be required later. The incidence of this is 46% in our patients. This study seeks to determine the feasibility of preserving the cochlear duct with an obdurator so that patients undergoing translabyrinthine removal of VIIIth nerve tumors may retain the option of a cochlear implant at a later time.