# Development and Translation of an Intracranial Auditory Nerve Implant

> **NIH NIH UG3** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2020 · $2,359,321

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The proposed project will build and evaluate the safety and design needs of a new type of intracranial auditory
prosthesis that targets the auditory nerve between the cochlea and the brainstem (auditory nerve implant, ANI)
in order to substantially improve hearing performance over the current standard of care, the cochlear implant
(CI). Current CIs provide crucial speech information to many recipients, but do not restore normal hearing, and
are particularly challenged in noisy or complex acoustic environments. Despite concerted efforts over the past
25 years, little overall improvement in CI performance has been obtained, primarily due to the poor electrode-
neural interface in which the CI electrodes are immersed in cochlear fluids and separated from the auditory
nerve by the cochlea's bony wall. The new approach will build upon encouraging data from animal studies,
well-established human surgical techniques to access the auditory nerve, and high-density electrode and safe
stimulation technologies currently available for human use in order to test the safety and efficacy of the ANI
that enables direct contact between the electrodes and the auditory nerve. The ANI provides great promise of
improved speech and music perception for its prospective recipients, by overcoming the challenge that has
limited improvements in CIs for the past quarter century. The first aim is to design and build a full ANI system
in accordance with regulatory requirements, including necessary reliability, safety, functional, biocompatibility,
and sterilization testing for human use. The ANI system will be built by combining a well-established CI device
in the auditory implant field with a novel electrode and cabling technology already being evaluated in human
patients for other clinical applications. The second aim is to refine the ANI surgery in human cadaver
experiments and acutely during other relevant in vivo operations to consistently position and anchor the
electrode array and cabling into the target region. The third aim is to develop and validate critical
psychophysical tests to properly evaluate the performance of the ANI during the pilot human study, which can
then inform the design of a future clinical ANI device. The fourth aim is to seek regulatory approvals and set up
the clinical trial infrastructure and monitoring entities. The fifth and final aim is to perform a pilot ANI study in up
to three deaf patients to obtain safety, reliability and functionality data that can properly guide the design of a
proceeding clinical device and a feasibility study.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9789987
- **Project number:** 5UG3NS107688-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Meredith Evelyn Adams
- **Activity code:** UG3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $2,359,321
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-30 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9789987

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9789987, Development and Translation of an Intracranial Auditory Nerve Implant (5UG3NS107688-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9789987. Licensed CC0.

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