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Scientists
at the UK's National Physical Laboratory are working on a new device
which may help deaf people hear music. The sophisticated implant has
a wider frequency range in contrast to existing devices which allow
people to hear speech more easily by amplifying sound.
The new implant looks like a comb and its components vibrate in
response to sound. Each element is a different length and diameter
and is tuned to resonate at different ranges of frequency. The implant
is is coated with a piezoelectric material which creates an electrically
generated pulse. A musical note causes one of the elements to vibrate
and the flexing of the piezoelectric material produces a small voltage
which is transmitted directly to the auditory nerve in the cochlea.
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