Abstract
 

The Vestibular Implant: Electrically stimulating the vestibular organ

Many people are not aware of the fact that they have two vestibular organs, until these organs start to fail. The vestibular organs are necessary for postural control, for maintaining clear vision during head movements and for spatial orientation. Especially in case both vestibular organs do no work anymore, patients get disabling symptoms like imbalance and oscillopsia (the illusion of an unstable visual world). This has severy socio-economic consequences and decreases quality of life significantly. Unfortunately, current treatment options like physical therapy, are not sufficient. Therefore, the Geneva-Maastricht group has implanted as the first team in the world, a vestibular implant in humans with bilateral failure of their vestibular organs. It could be demonstrated that this vestibular implant, or artificial balance organ, can influence posture and decrease oscillopsia. These promising results indicate that the vestibular implant seems to be a clinically useful treatment in the near future. This lecture will provide deeper insights in failure of vestibular organs and the biomechanical mechanisms involved in restoring vestibular function with a vestibular implant.