|
Professor Ian Bruce
The
following article is reprinted courtesy of the Hamilton Spectator,
McMaster University’s partner in the Science in the City
Lecture Series.
Designing better hearing aids goal of Mac research
Prof to speak on the engineering approaches to studying
and treating hearing loss as part of Science in the City lecture
series
Steve Buist
The Hamilton Spectator
Nov. 1, 12:51 EDT
Hear today, gone tomorrow.
For a growing number of Canadians, hearing loss is a discouraging
part of everyday life, particularly as the country's population
ages. Figuring out how to improve the processing of audio information
travelling between the ear and the brain is the goal of Dr.
Ian Bruce, a transplanted Australian who is a professor in McMaster
University's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Tomorrow night, Bruce will give a talk entitled Hope for Better
Hearing: Engineering Approaches to Studying and Treating Hearing
Loss in The Spectator auditorium. It's part of the Science in
the City lecture series, sponsored jointly by McMaster and The
Spectator.
|
| |
|
 |
|
|
|
"Work environments are now well-regulated when
it comes to noise," said Bruce, "but there
are no government regulations for how loud a concert
or movie can be or how loud people can crank up the
stereos in their cars."
Bruce and his colleagues develop models that simulate
the chain of events that happens when sound travels
from the ear to the brain, and then try to figure out
how the sounds are being distorted during hearing loss.
That work can ultimately help lead to the design of
better hearing aids. "There are lots of things
we can do to the sounds that go through the hearing
aid," said Bruce. "The question is what are
the best things we can do to allow the important information
to reach the brain."
Tomorrow's lecture is free of charge and open to the
public.
To register for a spot, call 905-525-9140, ext. 24934,
or send an e-mail to sciencecity@mcmaster.ca
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The talk begins at 7 p.m.
Closing out the 2004 portion of the Science in the
City series on Dec. 14 will be Dr.
Gurmit Singh, director of research at Hamilton's
Juravinski Cancer Centre and a professor in McMaster's
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
Singh will talk about research into figuring out how
to keep cancer from spreading to new sites in the body.
sbuist@thespec.com
905-526-3226
|
|
|
