title: The vestibular implant: A probe in orbit around the human balance system.
abstract: The primary goal of the vestibular implant is to restore the vestibular function in patients with a disabling bilateral vestibular loss for whom there is currently no available treatment. The prototype developed by our team is a hybrid system consisting of a modified cochlear implant incorporating additional vestibular electrodes. Therefore, in addition of delivering sound information it is also capable of delivering motion information to the central nervous system using electrical stimulation. To date, thirteen patients have been implanted with such vestibular implant prototypes. For ethical reasons, only deaf ears were implanted and all patients experienced a clinical benefit from the hearing rehabilitation. The recent demonstration of partial restoration of the vestibulo-ocular and the vestibulo-collic reflexes in implanted patients suggests that gaze stabilization and postural control, fundamental functions of the balance system, can be artificially restored using a vestibular implant. This allows us to glimpse a useful clinical application in a near future. In parallel, we show how the vestibular implant provides a unique opportunity to explore the integration of the vestibular sensory input into the multisensory, multimodal balance system in humans, since it is able to selectively stimulate the vestibular system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perez Fornos
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cavuscens
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ranieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Balance Disorders, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, The Netherlands.|Faculty of Physics, Tomsk State University, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van de Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stokroos
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Balance Disorders, Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, The Netherlands.|Faculty of Physics, Tomsk State University, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kingma
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Guyot
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Service of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guinand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013506:Otologic Surgical Procedures; D004856:Postural Balance; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular; D012677:Sensation; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D014725:Vestibular Nerve / Q000601:surgery; D014722:Vestibule, Labyrinth / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Vestibular implant; balance; bilateral vestibular loss; multisensory; therapeutical medical device