HearLight

HearLight aims at developing a new technology to restore audition for patients with impaired hearing. It is a collaborative project coordinated by the Hearing Institute at Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) and reuniting six European partners including University of Basel, University of Strathclyde, University of Norway, Mines Saint-Etienne and Swiss start-up NOVAGAN. Hearing loss affects almost half a billion people worldwide. For complete hearing loss, the only treatment currently is the cochlear implant, an electrical stimulator placed in the ear. Cochlear implants restore hearing in some patients, but with performance limitations that severely affect patients’ quality of life. HearLight aims to boost precision in auditory rehabilitation strategies for a broad range of deafness indications using a radically new approach targeted to the brain rather than to the ear. It will combine Bioelectronics and Optogenetics technologies to apply precise stimulation patterns in the auditory cortex, a crucial brain area for auditory perception. The European Union has awarded 3M€ to the project in the framework of its Horizon 2020 Future Emerging Technologies FET OPEN programme.