If not, is it possible to develop one? If not, why not?
No. The eye techniques work because the laser cuts change shape the of lens so the light fucuses properly at the back of the eye. And BTW, there are many eye problems that laser surgery does not help.
The ear is a completely different design structure. Sound does pass through anything in the ear which focuses it on some other part.
Umm, do you maybe mean a lasik procedure? (Lasix is a brand name for a common diuretic drug, furosemide.)
AFAIK, there isn’t one for hearing, and I’m not sure they could develop one. The ear works in a very, very different way from the eye. You can go in the correct any number of mechanical things in the eye (basically adjusting relative distances), and it’s roughly like adjusting a camera. My understanding is that lasik procedures pretty much just help focus the camera, although I could be wrong.
The ear, however, works by a system of membranes, small bones, and a fluid-filled structure transferring vibrations to one another, and then to the auditory nerve. For a lasik-type procedure, you’d have to adjust the way or amount one of the physical structures vibrates, and I just don’t know that it’s possible.
Lasix is a medicine which makes you pee to help relieve high blood pressure and fluid on the lungs.
I assume you’re talking about using lasers to help correct hearing deficits in the same way lasers are used to correct irregularities in the refracting power of the cornea.
I’m not sure such a thing is possible, depending on how close your analogy is. Hearing loss occurs for several reasons. Many people have problems with the acoustic nerve, and lasers would not likely correct this (of course, eye lasers do not correct blindness). The eardrum can become harder with age in otosclerosis, but it is unclear to me how lasers could counteract this in a manner analagous to the eye.
Yes, sorry - I meant Lasik! :smack:
I guess if you were a researcher, you’d have to approach each problem separately. It would be great if there were drugs to make you ears more sensitive or laser surgery to remove scar tissue (which can cause some kinds of hearing loss, IIRC).
not the same, but they do make an implant called cocear or something similar to that, it is placed in the head and connected to a small box by the ear, I saw a documentary on it called “Sound and Fury” not the same, but it does help almost completely deaf people hear at least a little
… they do make an implant called cocear or something similar to that …
I think you’re referred to a “Cochlear Implant”. You can see a web site (with a helpful diagram) at
http://www.med.harvard.edu/publications/On_The_Brain/Volume3/Number4/Cochlear.html
There is a procedure called a stapedotomy in which a laser is used to treat stapedial otosclerosis. A stapedectomy is another option too. Both of these procedures aim to improve the stapes’ ability to vibrate and conduct sound waves to the cochlea.
There are other non-amplification treatment options depending on the type and etiology of the hearing loss, although they don’t involve a laser.
For example, conductive hearing losses due to otitis media (i.e., fluid in the middle ear) may resolve without intervention, but other treatment options include tubes (a small tube is inserted through the eardrum, allowing fluid to drain and pressure on either side of the tympanic membrane to equalize) and/or antibiotics. For those people who have no conductive hearing at all, a bone-anchored hearing aid (a BAHA) is also an option. The BAHA transmits sound waves directly through the skull and into the cochlea.
I believe treatment for a sensorineural hearing loss (one in which the hearing loss is due to cochlear or auditory nerve damage), OTOH, is limited. Of course, if someone’s hearing loss is the result of an acoustic neuroma, then removal of the tumour may restore hearing. The only other treatment I can think of is the cochlear implant mentioned above. But candidacy for this procedure is limited to people with severe to profound hearing losses as the procedure wipes out any residual hearing in that ear . Also, the implant does not restore “normal” hearing. People with implants require auditory training in order to interpret the sounds they hear successfully as well as speech therapy.