Modified science software combats vertigo in Meniere's patients

Science software used in cochlear implants is now being adapted to attempt to prevent vertigo in patients suffering from the balance impairment problem Meniere's disease.

The disease can be extremely debilitating and is believed to arise from leaking endolymphatic fluid from ruptured inner-ear membranes.

Around three in ten patients suffer bilateral Meniere's disease, but all are likely to experience balance problems which require them to simply lie still for hours on end, until the membrane heals.

Now re-engineered science software and modified cochlear implants are offering a means to tackle the nausea-inducing vertigo associated with the condition.

On October 21st, the first University of Washington test subject receives the implant, which overrides the ear's signals with its own wireless transmission of electrical stimuli, blocking the vertigo effect and its nauseous outcome.

Dr Jay Rubinstein of the department of otolaryngology says: "What we're proposing here is a potentially safer and more effective therapy than exists now."

The department's Dr Kris Moe also made science news headlines recently with the announcement that he has helped to develop a method of brain surgery carried out via the eye socket - and which therefore leaves no visible scarring.