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Review
. 2024 Sep 3;16(9):e68580.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.68580. eCollection 2024 Sep.

From Silence to Sound: Graeme Clark's Cochlear Implant

Riley Montgomery  1 , Gauri Mankekar  2
Affiliations
Review

From Silence to Sound: Graeme Clark's Cochlear Implant

Riley Montgomery et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Graeme Clark is an exceptional Australian professor and otolaryngologist who spent most of his life researching a way to help his deaf father and others suffering from profound hearing loss gain a better connection to those around them. His invention, the cochlear implant, has changed the lives of over 300,000 people around the world, with more than half of those individuals being children. Clark successfully created the first sensory connection linking the external world with human consciousness. He subsequently established the Bionic Ear Institute, now known as the Bionics Institute, to further improve his invention through research. He served as the full-time director until he retired at age 70 in 2005. Graeme Clark has been recognized worldwide for restoring hearing to the deaf and greatly improving their everyday lives.

Keywords: bionic ear; cochlear impant; historical vignette; medical device innovator; sensorineural (sn) hearing loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Graeme Clark with Cochlear's first multi-channel Nucleus implant, which he inserted in a patient in 1982.
Source: Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Courtesy of Graeme Clark [5].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Professor Graeme Clark, Otolaryngologist (Interview by S. O'Leary) [Transcript]. (2011. Professor Graeme Clark, otolaryngologist (interview by S. O'Leary) [ Aug; 2024 ]. 2001. https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-... https://www.science.org.au/learning/general-audience/history/interviews-...
    1. Forty years of "Waltzing Matilda": the history of the multichannel cochlear implant. Ho JP, North H, Singh NP. Med J Aust. 2018;209:476–478. - PubMed
    1. Bondarew V, Seligman P. The Cochlear Story. Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO Publishing; 2012. The Cochlear Story.
    1. Pioneer of the bionic ear. Bionics Institute. [ Aug; 2024 ]. 2024. https://www.bionicsinstitute.org/laureate-professor-graeme-clark-ac/ https://www.bionicsinstitute.org/laureate-professor-graeme-clark-ac/
    1. Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation person Clarke Graeme M. [ Aug; 2024 ]. 2024. https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001420b.htm https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001420b.htm