Audiology

Research in the Mayo Clinic Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery's Division of Audiology is centered on advancing the understanding of hearing, hearing loss, and inner ear and balance function across the lifespan. The audiology team leads innovative, collaborative efforts focused on clinically applied research to find, prevent, and manage hearing loss, balance issues or dizziness for patients of all ages.

Improving hearing across the lifespan

Audiology research is focused on improving hearing healthcare access and delivery for early detection and prevention of hearing loss.

Detecting hearing loss as early as possible and preventing or minimizing hearing damage are critical to preserving quality of life for patients of all ages. To this end, researchers in the Division of Audiology are developing more-sensitive clinical diagnostic measures. These new tools and methods improve how healthcare teams find and track small changes in patients' hearing due to aging, noise and other environmental factors, such as ototoxicity from exposure to certain medicines.

Hearing aids

Hearing aid research is ongoing in collaboration with Mayo Clinic's Hearing Aid Program. Researchers are conducting multiple studies to improve patient outcomes and clinical practice. Projects related to hearing aids include:

• Conducting annual surveys of patients who have gotten hearing aids during the previous year to measure how satisfied they are with their hearing aids, audiologists, services and use information.
• Determining whether there is a relationship among specific patient characteristics, hearing aid use patterns and hearing aid returns.
• Investigating how probe tubes affect feedback control settings and whether the tubes reduce potential hearing gains because of lower feedback limits.
• Tracking hearing aid repair rates for all manufacturers and examining trends regarding manufacturers, hearing aid styles and hearing aid circuits.
• Examining ear mold remake and modification rates for various manufacturers, styles, materials, degrees and configurations of hearing loss.

Cochlear implants

The Division of Audiology's cochlear implant team is leading research on new ways to tell when patients across the lifespan may benefit from cochlear implantation and other implantable devices.

The cochlear implant team specializes in clinical research to adopt and optimize new cochlear implant technology in patients of all ages. Research efforts focus on identifying objective measures for implant programming. The team also is investigating the use of electrocochleography during and after cochlear implant surgery to preserve natural acoustic hearing.

Balance and dizziness

The Mayo Integrated Neuro-Vestibular Team (MINT) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, measures, monitors and assesses the vestibular and balance systems with the goal of helping people with balance issues prevent falls and injuries and attain a higher quality of life. It is a collaborative research effort among the departments of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, Neurology, and Psychiatry and Psychology.

The MINT pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to manage and assess patients with dizziness, making clinical practice more effective. Researchers are now investigating computerized rotational head impulse testing and the use of hearing aids to track patient falls.